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ISAAC  FOOT  COLLECTTOW 


TWENTIETH  CENTURY  TEXT-BOOKS 


SUCCESSFUL  TEXTS  ON 
UNITED    STATES     HISTORY 

A  History  of  the  United   States  for  Schools 

By  ANDREW  C.  MCLAUGHLIN,  Professor  of 
History,  University  of  Chicago,  and  C.  H. 
VAN  TYNE,  Professor  of  History,  University 
of  Michigan.  With  Maps  and  Illustrations 
For  seventh  and  eighth  grade  work.  One  or 
two  volume  editions. 

A  History  of  the  American  Nation 

By  ANDREW  C.  MCLAUGHLIN.  With  Maps 
and  illustrations.  For  High  Schools.  12mo. 
Cloth. 

Readings    in     the    History    of    the    American 
Nation 

By  ANDREW  C.  M.CLAUGHLIN.  Source  book 
in  American  history  for  high  schools.  12  mo. 
Cloth. 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

Publishers  New  York 


E-211-B 


-TWENTIETH   CENTURY   TEXT-BOOKS 


A   HISTORY   OF 
I 

THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


BY 

ANDREW  c.  MCLAUGHLIN 

PROFESSOR,    AND   HEAD   OF   THE  DEPARTMENT,    OF  HISTORY 
IN  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 


NEW    EDITION 

THOROUGHLY  REVISED  AND  LARGELY  REWRITTEN 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 
NEW  YORK          CHICAGO 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DAVIS 


COPYRIGHT,  1899,  I9°S»  I9°8»  I9°9   *9ii>  1913.  1916,  1919 
BY  D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


PREFACE 


American  history  has  been  making  at  a  very  rapid  rate  in 
these  early  years  of  the  twentieth  century;  events  of  importance 
have  followed  one  another  in  quick  succession;  new  views  of 
social  duty  and  new  ideas  concerning  obligations  in  industrial 
relationships  have  come  so  quickly  that  it  has  been  hard  to 
keep  pace  with  new  conditions  or  to  appreciate  the  principles 
of  action.  All  of  these  developments  have  in  some  degree 
changed  our  attitude  toward  the  past.  The  writer  of  history, 
if  true  to  his  faith  and  loyal  to  his  science,  will  not  allow  his 
statements  of  fact  and  of  social  change  to  be  colored  or  distorted 
by  his  hopes  for  the  future  or  by  his  judgments  of  the  present; 
it  is  his  duty  to  tell  his  story — entertainingly  if  he  can — but  as 
calmly  and  truthfully  as  the  facts  and  his  grasp  of  them  permit. 

And  yet  we  are  always  getting  new  points  of  view,  new  angles 
of  vision,  new  turning  points  in  the  onward  road,  from  which 
to  look  back  upon  the  past;  and  things  which  loomed  large  at 
one  time  or  to  one  generation  of  history  students  are  reduced 
to  smaller  dimensions;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  things  that  once 
seemed  small  and  comparatively  unimportant  appear  large  and 
full  of  meaning  when  judged  by  later  experience.  As  the  present 
is  the  product  of  infinite  factors  working  in  the  past,  we  must 
ever  get,  as  we  go  on  and  as  life  changes  about  us,  new  glimpses 
of  forces  that  have  made  us  what  we  are. 

The  main  events  of  American  history  cannot  be  changed,  and 
must  be  learned,  as  far  as  we  can  now  see,  by  successive  genera 
tions  of  boys  and  girls;  the  planting  of  the  English  colonies  on 
the  edge  of  the  new  continent  and  their  development  in  political 
capacity  and  self-sufficiency;  the  estrangement  from  the  mother 
country;  the  war  and  independence;  the  formation  of  the  federal 


vi  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

\ 

Union;  the  expansion  of  the  republic  till  it  reached  across  the 

continent  and  beyond;  the  ideals  of  democratic  government 
influenced  by  the  experiences  of  the  frontier;  the  growth  of 
slavery  and  of  anti-slavery  sentiment;  the  gradual  separation 
of  the  sections  until  the  South  sought  to  sever  the  bonds  of 
union;  the  declaration  of  the  Civil  War  that  there  must  be  one 
nation,  and  that,  as  a  house  divided  against  itself  will  surely 
fall  and  a  nation  cannot  exist  half  slave  and  half  free,  the  nation 
should  be  wholly  free;  the  gradual  reconstruction,  economic  and 
political,  after  the  struggle  between  the  sections.  But  there  are 
other  things,  too,  and  these  to-day  mean  more  to  us  than  they 
did  only  a  few  years  ago;  the  development  of  party  machinery, 
the  tasks  of  democratic  government  in  a  changing  social  order, 
the  using — and  sometimes  the  mis-using — of  the  natural  re 
sources  of  the  country,  the  growth  of  cities  and  the  multiplying 
of  factories; — in  fact,  the  new  conditions  which  are  the  product 
of  the  manufacturing  regime  and  which  have  brought  their 
demands  for  legislation  and  political  action.  Every  passing 
year  seems  to  add  significance  to  the  important  general  phases 
of  industrial  growth  during  the  last  fifty  years,  while  the  rela 
tions  of  government  to  industry  and  to  tasks  of  social  better 
ment  are  more  and  more  the  subject  for  discussion.  This  does 
not  mean  that  history  should  be  written  from  the  point  of  view 
of  industrial  growth  alone;  on  the  contrary,  perhaps  never 
before  was  there  such  need  for  understanding  political  history 
and  knowing  the  development  or  change  of  political  principles, 
and  for  this  reason,  because  political  society,  the  state,  the 
government,  and  law  are  now  closely  involved  in  every  problem 
of  industrial  control,  in  every  plan  for  general  social  regenera 
tion. 

With  some  such  ideas  as  this  in  mind,  the  present  edition  of 
this  book  has  been  prepared.  The  text  of  previous  editions  has 
all  been  carefully  reexamined;  portions  of  it  have  been  re 
arranged;  the  colonial  period  has  been  reduced  to  allow  more 
space  for  the  treatment  of  more  recent  history;  considerable 


PREFACE  vii 

portions  have  been  rewritten.  Some  alterations  have  been  made 
here  and  there  or  an  explanation  has  been  added  where  the  ex 
perience  of  teachers,  who  have  used  the  book  in  the  class  room, 
indicated  that  alteration  might  make  a  statement  more  lucid 
or  telling.  Marked  addition  has  been  made  to  the  story  of  the 
last  forty  years  and  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  bring  out 
with  distinctness  the  main  characteristics  of  the  period. 

Acknowledgment  is  due  to  the  following  for  some  of  the  illus 
trations  that  have  been  used:  the  Houghton  Mifflin  Company, 
Ginn  and  Company,  the  Magazine  of  American  History,  the 
New  York  Historical  Society,  the  New  York  Public  Library, 
the  Boston  Public  Library,  the  Grolier  Club,  and  Mr.  R.  T. 
Haines  Halsey. 

The  book  in  its  older  form  has  been  used  for  some  years  in 
many  class  rooms,  and,  if  I  may  judge  from  words  of  com 
mendation  that  have  come  to  me  and  for  which  I  am  grateful, 
it  has  been  helpful  to  teachers  in  their  task  of  making  real  to 
pupils  the  great  and  essential  facts  of  American  history.  It 
is  offered  in  this  new  form  with  considerable  confidence  that  it 
will  prove  no  less  useful.  It  is,  I  may  venture  to  hope,  if  not 
entirely  free  from  error,  in  most  respects  abreast  of  modern 
scholarship  in  the  field;  to  hope  less  would  be  to  disparage  the 
attention  and  thought  given  to  the  revision. 

Since  the  outbreak  of  the  World  War  in  1914,  in  which,  be 
fore  the  end,  the  United  States  soldiers  were  fighting  side  by 
side  with  British  soldiers  to  make  "the  world  safe  for  de 
mocracy,"  many  persons  have  questioned  the  account  given  in 
our  school  text  books  about  the  Revolution  and  our  various 
controversies  with  Great  Britain.  After  reviewing  carefully  the 
pages  of  this  text,  the  writer  finds  little  if  anything  he  believes 
wrong  or  misleading.  The  people  of  Great  Britain  do  not  to 
day  assert  that  right  and  justice  were  on  the  British  side  in  the 
Revolution;  they  point  out  the  fact  that  the  Revolution  was 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  and  that  since  that  time  Britain 


viii  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

has  become  a  democracy.  Inasmuch  as  our  history  books  do 
not  include  narratives  of  the  development  of  Great  Britain, 
we  are  likely  to  get  the  notion  that  the  British  people  remained 
where  they  were  a  century  and  more  ago,  although  one  of  the 
most  impressive  and  significant  facts  in  modern  history  is  the 
"liberalizing"  of  the  British  state  and  of  the  British  govern 
ment.  Of  course  the  same  thing  may  be  said  of  France.  That 
nation  at  the  time  of  our  Revolution  was  a  state  in  the  grip  of 
a  despotic  government.  When  we  fought  with  France  against 
Britain  in  the  War  of  1812,  France  was  in  the  power  of  an 
emperor  who  had  no  love  for  us.  Since  those  days  it  has  passed 
through  many  experiences,  but  to-day  it  and  its  people  long  to 
live  with  us  on  terms  of  friendship.  Not  to  recognize  these 
facts  is  to  lose  sight  of  the  transformation  of  the  political  world. 
It  may  be  a  gross  exaggeration  to  say  that  America  has  democra 
tized  Europe;  but  certainly  American  stability  under  popular 
government  had  some  effect  on  the  outside  world,  and  at  all 
events  we  can  scarcely  know  ourselves  if  we  do  not  realize  that 
the  world  has  become  in  many  respects  like  ourselves. 

When  American  soldiers  by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
crossed  the  ocean  in  British  ships  to  disembark  at  a  British 
port  on  the  way  to  France  to  fight  against  military  autocracy, 
we  saw  one  of  the  most  dramatic  facts  in  history.  America 
was  coming  back  to  Europe  to  aid  the  cause  of  democracy. 
Mere  inherited  suspicion  of  a  country  against  which  the  United 
States  fought  a  hundred  years  ago  must  not  blind  us  to  the  fact 
that  the  really  great  thing  in  the  world  is  friendly  cooperation 
and  the  general  development  of  civilization;  and  the  thing  which 
gives  us  hope  is  that  other  nations,  Great  Britain  not  less  than 
any  other,  are  now  based  on  faith  in  the  people,  which  is  the  basis 
of  democracy. 

ANDREW  C.  MCLAUGHLIN. 


U         E 


CANCER 


. v— 

UNITED  STATES 


SCALE  OF  MILES 
0          100        200         300        400        500 


West  90 


.Greenwich  80 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION i 

II. — THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES — 1607-1700 19 

III. — THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES — 1607-1700.       ...     48 

IV. — THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES — 1614-1700 73 

V.— THE  COLONIES  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY  ...     87 

VI. — FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND — 1608-1763 97 

VII. — THE  SOCIAL,  INDUSTRIAL,  AND  POLITICAL  CONDITIONS  OF 

THE  COLONIES  IN  1760        .       .       .       .       .    ;  .    >  .   112 

VIII. — CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  .       .       .       .       .       .       .   133 

IX. — THE  REVOLUTION — 1775-1783.       .       .       .       .       .       .  154 

X. — THE  CONFEDERATION  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION — 1781-1789.   180 
XI.— ORGANIZATION   OF  THE   GOVERNMENT — THE   FEDERALIST 

PARTY  IN  CONTROL — 1789-1801  .       .       .       ....  198 

XII. — JEFFERSONIAN  DEMOCRACY — INTERNAL  DEVELOPMENT.       .   223 
XIII. — THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RIGHTS  UPON  THE  SEA.       .       .       .  236 

XIV. — NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT;  INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEMS       .       .256 
XV. — PARTY  REORGANIZATION;  PERSONAL  AND  SECTIONAL  DIS 
PUTE 276 

XVI. — THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA;  THE  TASKS  OF  A  NEW  SELF-CON 
SCIOUS  DEMOCRACY        .     •  .       .       .       .       y      ..       .   290 
XVII. — SLAVERY  AND  THE  TEXAS  QUESTION     .       .       .       .       .315 
XVIII. — WAR   WITH   MEXICO;    SHALL   SLAVE-TERRITORY   BE   IN 
CREASED?  332 

XIX. — THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  POPULAR  SOVEREIGNTY;  THE  FORMA 
TION  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY 350 

XX. — THE  COMING  OF  THE  CRISIS 365 

XXL— SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865 385 

XXII. — POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION — 1865-1877.       .  433 
XXIII.— THE  NEW  NATION — PARTY  STRIFE — 1877-1885        .       .  459 

ix 


x  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

HAPTER  PAGE 

XXIV.— THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  AMERICA— 1859- 

1903 474 

XXV. — TWELVE  YEARS  OF  PARTY  DISCUSSION;  THE  TARIFF  AND 

SILVER 493 

XXVI. — THE  WAR  WITH  SPAIN — IMPERIALISM  AND  THE  WHITE 

MAN'S  BURDEN — 1897-1909 514 

XXVII. — THE  TASKS  OF  THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY — 1900- 

1913  .       .       .   ' 527 

XXVIII. — DEMOCRATIC  ASCENDANCY — THE  TARIFF — FINANCIAL  RE 
FORM — FOREIGN  COMPLICATIONS,  1913-1916   .       .       .   552 

XXIX.— THE  WORLD  WAR       . 564 

APPENDIX i 

INDEX    ,  xxvii 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

George  Washington .       .     Frontispiece 

Building  a  Ship  of  the  Fifteenth  Century 5 

The  Earliest  Engraved  Likeness  of  Christopher  Columbus  ...  7 
Facsimile  of  the  Sentence  in  Which  America  was  First  Named  .  .12 
An  English  Ship  of  Private  Ownership,  About  the  Time  of  Sir  John 

Hawkins 22 

The  Spanish  Armada  and  the  English  Fleet  in  the  Channel     ...     23 

Captain  John  Smith ,'      .       .       .       .29 

From  Captain  John  Smith's  Generall  Historic        .    •,    •       •       •       •     31 

An  Indian  Palisaded  Village  • '     *  (     .       •     34 

Indian  Treaty  Belt  of  Wampum  .       .       ...       .,     •       •     37 

First  Page  of  the  Bradford  Manuscript        .       .       ..*:.'.       .       .     53 

A  Pilgrim  Meeting  House  and  Fort      .       .       .       .       .       .       .       .54 

Governor  Carver's  Chair  and  a  Colonial  Spinning  Wheel        .       .       .55 

John  Winthrop         .      ^. *,..".       .60 

Chair  and  Cradle  Used  in  the  Early  Colony  .  .  i  '"'.-»  .  .62 
Peter  Stuyvesant's  House  in  New  Amsterdam  .  .  ...  .  .76 

William  Penn .82 

Title  Page  of  the  Frame  of  Government     .       .  .  •  •    ,       .       .85 

View  of  Christ  Church,  Boston .       .       .96 

Defeat  of  the  Iroquois 99 

Part  of  a  Leaden  Plate 102 

Samuel  Adams 113 

A  House  Slave  of  Washington's  Day .       .114 

Advertisement  for  a  Runaway  Slave    .  115 

William  and  Mary  College,  Williamsburg,  Va 118 

A  Printing  Press1  of  Franklin's  Day 119 

Facsimile  of  Part  of  a  Page  of  Poor  Richard's  Almanac  .       .       .       .122 

A  Contemporary  Advertisement .       .       .123 

New  York  City  in  1732,  from  Brooklyn  Heights 124 

Benjamin  Franklin 125 

The  Birthplace  of  Benjamin  Franklin  in  Boston       .       .       .       .       .126 

Patrick  Henry 133 

Facsimile  of  a  Newspaper  Broadside  on  the  Day  Before  the  Stamp  Act 

Went  into  Effect 140 

Handbill  Issued  in  New  York  to  Allay  Opposition  to  the  Stamp  Act  .  141 
The  Repeal,  or  the  Funeral  Procession  of  Miss  Americ-Stamp  .  .142 
Handbill  Announcing  the  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  .  .  .  .144 
Portion  of  a  Handbill  Recalling  the  Boston  Massacre  .  .  .  146 

The  Wise  Men  of  Gotham  and  Their  Goose 149 

Appeal  for  Provisions,  June  1 8,  1775 I57 

Jefferson's  Draft  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence       .       .       .       .160 

The  Surrender  of  Burgoyne 166 

Fraunces'  Tavern,  New  York  City 1 76 

A  Page  of  Washington's  Accounts 179 

Eighth  Federal  Pillar  Reared 193 

xi 


xii  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

PAGE 

Ninth  Pillar  Erected 194 

John  Jay .  199 

View  of  the  Old  City  Hall,  Wall  Street,  in  the  Year  1789       .       .       .201 

Alexander  Hamilton 204 

Triumph  Government:  Perish  All  Its  Enemies 210 

John  Adams 215 

Reception  of  Washington  at  Trenton,  N.  J 222 

Thomas  Jefferson 223 

John  Marshall 226 

Signing  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Treaty 230 

Early  Flatboat  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans 235 

James  Madison        .        .        .       . 240 

Henry  Clay      .        .       .       ...       .       .       .       .       .       .       .  244 

The  Constitution 248 

The  House  Where  the  Treaty  of  Ghent  was  Discussed    ....  254 

James  Monroe 257 

A  Lock  on  the  Erie  Canal     .               263 

The  Conestoga  Wagon 264 

A  River  Steamboat  on  the  Mississippi 265 

A  Frontier  Log  Cabin 267 

An  Early  Cotton  Gin •       •  27° 

John  Quincy  Adams ?8o 

Advertisement  of  the  First  Passenger  Train  in  Massachusetts,  May, 

_  1834    .               284 

Railway  Travel  in  1831 285 

Andrew  Jackson 290 

Reproduction  of   the  First  Telegraphic  Message  Sent  by  the  Morse 

System.     .  .     . 294 

John  C.  Calhoun     .       .    \ .       .       .  299 

Daniel  Webster «     .       .       .  300 

New  Edition  of  Macbeth,  1837.    Bank-Oh's  Ghost 304 

William  Lloyd  Garrison 316 

Cartoon  Used  as  Cover  to  an  Emancipation  Song  Sung  in  1844  by  the 

Hutchinsons     .       .' .        .        .  319 

Zachary  Taylor 342 

William  H.  Seward 346 

Charles  Sumner 363 

James  Buchanan 365 

John  Brown's  Fort 375 

Newspaper  Announcement  of  the  Secession  of  South  Carolina       .       -379 

Jefferson  Davis 383 

Abraham  Lincoln 385 

Union  Gunboats  on  the  Cumberland  . 397 

Robert  E.  Lee 402 

Lincoln's  Draft  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 407 

Newspaper  Announcement  of  the  Result  of  the  Battle  of  Gettysburg  .  410 

U.  S.  Grant 415 

The  Confederate  Ram  Tennessee 418 

W.  T.  Sherman 421 

The  Grave  of  the  Union,  or  Major  Jack  Downing's  Dream    .       .       .  423 

The  True  Issue,  or  "That's  What's  the  Matter" 425 

Grant's  Disoatch  Announcing  the  Surrender  of  Lee 428 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  xiii 

PAGE 

The  Great  "Compromise  Cartoon"       .     .     .     .     ; 430 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes 459 

James  A.  Garfield 469 

Driving  the  Last  Spike 479 

Breaking  Raw  Prairie 482 

A  Cartoon  of  the  Tweed  Ring 484 

A  Modern  Grain  Elevator 487 

The  Railway  Strike  of  1877 490 

A  Modern  Steam  Locomotive 491 

Grover  Cleveland 493 

Benjamin  Harrison 498 

William  McKinley 514 

Lowering  the  American  Flag  on  the  Palace  in  Havana,  to  Make  Way 

for  the  Star  of  the  Cuban  Republic      .     .     t> 521 

Theodore  Roosevelt * 523 

The  Culebra  Cut  on  the  Panama  Canal 525 

William  H.  Taft 531 

A  Modern  Skyscraper  Partially  Completed 535 

A  Modern  Harvesting  Machine 540 

Woodrow  Wilson 550 

A  German  Sea  Raider.    The  Submarine  "U-I4" 570 

The  Steamship  "  Lusitania  " .     .  572 

President  Wilson  and  His  War  Cabinet ^  .      .     .     .579 

An  American  Made  De  Haviland  "4"  Liberty  Motored  Airplane  .     .    580 

Commanding  Generals  of  Allied  Armies 582 

A  French  Tank  Crossing  No  Man's  Land 583 


.LIST  OF  MAPS  AND  TABLES 

PAGE 

Political  Map  of  the  United  States  (colored)      ....      facing  viii 

Old  Trade  Routes  to  the  East       .  2 

Sketch  of  the  Ptolemy  Map  .        ...        . 4 

The  Four  Voyages  of  Columbus 8 

A  Sketch  of  a  Portion  of  the  Behaim  Globe       ......       9 

Early  Explorations  in  the  New  World         .       •       •      •      ..       .11 

The  Route  of  Magellan 13 

Western  Half  of  Lenox  Globe 14 

The  Mercator  Map  of  1541 .     15 

A  Map  of  1531,  Sketched  in  Outline 16 

Relief  Map  of  the  United  States 18 

Territory  Granted  by  the  Charter  of  1606  26 

Territory  Granted  by  the  Charter  of  1609  •        •       •  •       •       •     30 

Maryland .        .     40 

Grant  of  the  Carolinas 45 

Part  of  John  Smith's  Map  of  New  England       .       .       .       .       .        .49 

Grant  to  Massachusetts  Bay •     5& 

Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations 66 

Territory  Granted  to  Mason  and  Gorges .       .     68 

Extent  of  the  Settlements  in  New  England  in  1660 69 

European  Possessions,  1650  (colored)  . 75 

East  Jersey  and  West  Jersey 79 

Colonial  Governments  Distinguished  (colored) 93 

The  Joliet  Map,  1673-74 100 

La  Hontan's  Map  of  Canada .103 

European  Claims  and  Possessions,  1755  (colored)      .       .       .      facing  104 

The  French  and  Indian  War,  Western  Campaign 105 

The  French  and  Indian  War,  Northern  and  Eastern  Campaigns  .  .  107 
The  French  and  Indian  War,  Campaigns  of  1756  and  1757  .  .  .  108 
Central  North  America,  1763-1783  (colored)  ....  facing,  no 

Boston  and  Its  Vicinity  in  1776 156 

The  Early  Campaigns  of  the  Revolution     .       .       .       .       .       .       .161 

New  York  and  Vicinity  in  1776 162 

Clark's  Campaign  in  the  West .       .       .172 

Field  of  the  Campaigns  in  the  South    .        .        .        .       .       .       .       .173 

The  United  States  at  the  End  of  the  Revolutionary  War  (colored)       .   181 

The  Northwest  Territory 185 

Distribution  of  the  Population  hi  1790 195 

The  Election  of  1796       .        .       .       .  \ 214 

Central  North  America  After  the  Purchase  of  Louisiana  (colored)  facing  232 

Routes  of  Lewis  and  Clark  and  Pike 233 

Field  of  the  Campaigns  in  the  West,  War  of  1812 246 

Field  of  the  Campaigns  in  the  North  and  East,  War  of  1812          .       .250 

The  Region  About  Washington  and  Baltimore 252 

The  War  in  the  South 253 


xvi  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

PAGE 

The  Cumberland  Road 261 

The  Erie  Canal 262 

Free  and  Slave  Areas  After  1820 272 

The  Election  of  1824 .278 

Distribution  of  Population  in  1830 296 

Texas 324 

The  Oregon  Country 327 

Field  of  the  War  with  Mexico 334 

Acquisition  of  Territory  in  the  West,  1803-1853       .       .       ...       .337 

Chart  Showing  Increase  of  Immigration  by  Decades       .       .       ....  350 

The  Western  Territories  in  1854 357 

The  Election  of  1856 364 

The  Growth  of  Railroads 371 

Charleston  Harbor 387 

The  United  States  in  1861  (colored) facing   388 

The  War  in  the  East 391 

Field  of  the  Western  Campaigns  of  the  Civil  War    .       .       .       .       .  393 

The  Peninsula  Campaign .       .       .401 

Battle  of  Gettysburg 409 

Historical  Sketch  of  the  War 417 

Field  of  the  Last  Campaigns  of  the  Civil  War  and  the  Line  of  Sherman's 

March 420 

Territorial  Growth  of  the  United  States  (colored)     .       .       .     facing    444 

Distribution  of  Population  in  1870 446 

The  Election  of  1876 456 

Trails  to  the  West  and  Routes  of  Pacific  Railroads 478 

The  Election  of  1896     ^ 511 

Field  of  the  Campaign  in  Cuba     .       .       .       „ 517 

The  Philippine  Islands .]      .  518 

The  Panama  Canal  Zone .       .       .   524 

The  Distribution  of  the  Population  in  1910 537 

The  Election  of  1912 549 

Summary  of  Popular  and  Electoral  Votes  for  President  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States      .       .       .       .       ,      Appendix  ii-vii 


HISTORY  OF 
THE    AMERICAN    NATION 


CHAPTER  I 
DISCOVERY  AND   EXPLORATION 

Five  hundred  years  ago  the  men  of  Europe  did  not  know 
of  the  land  we  call  America;  they  knew  nothing  of  the  great 
continent  across  the  western  ocean.  Some  men, 
esthe  the  more  learned>  believed  that  the  western  At 
lantic  touched  the  shores  of  Asia;  but  there 
was  little  interest  in  what  lay  to  the  west,  in  or  beyond  the 
"sea  of  darkness".  And  yet  the  Middle  Ages  were  drawing 
to  a  close;  Europe  was  already  stirred  with  new  life  and  en 
terprise;  the  spirit  of  the  Renaissance1 — the  new  birth— 
the  re-awakening  of  interest  in  art  and  letters  and  science, 
was  already  moving  men  to  take  a  wider  and  deeper  interest 
in  the  things  about  them.  Daring  men  were  already  engaged 
in  tasks  of  exploration,  for  the  age  of  the  new  learning  was 
also  the  age  "of  discovery".  The  times  were  marked  by  an 

1  "The  term  Renaissance  is  frequently  applied  at  present  not  only  tq 
the  new  birth  of  art  and  letters,  but  to  all  the  characteristics,  taken  to-« 
gether,  of  the  period  of  transition  from  the  Middle  Ages  to  modern  life, 
The  transformation  in  the  structure  and  policy  of  states,  the  passion  foi 
discovery,  the  dawn  of  a  more  scientific  method  of  observing  man  and 
Nature,  the  movement  toward  more  freedom  of  intellect  and  of  conscience, 
are  part  and  parcel  of  one  comprehensive  change — a  change  which  even 
now  has  not  reached  its  goal."  (Fisher,  Outlines  of  Universal  History, 
.P.  387-) 

1 


2 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


outburst  of  commercial  enterprise  and  by  a  zeal  for  a  wider 
trade  and  exploration.  About  1450  the  art  of  printing  was 
invented,  and  this  gave  a  channel  for  communicating  new 
thoughts  and  ideas  and  announcing  new  discoveries  and 
inventions. 

From  time  immemorial  the  nations  of  western  Europe  had 
lain  with  their  backs  to  the  Atlantic;  the  great  course  of  trade 
ran  from  the  towns  of  Germany  and  France  to 

j^    ^   frQm   j^   Qn   t()    ^  Orient        Qenoa 

and  Venice  had  become  great  seats  of  commerce 
and  grown  rich  in  their  traffic  with  the  far  East.    Europe  used 


Trade  with  the 


Northern  or  Genoese  Route 

Middle  Route 

Southern  or  Venetian  Route  - 


'"  „ >-- 1 

„"•"""""  \ 

'/  N   D   I  A 

'^-^]  " 

—     ]          OCEAN 


OLD  TRADE  ROUTES  TO  THE  EAST 

more  and  more  of  the  silks  and  spices  of  the  Orient,  and  these 
commodities  became  necessities  to  the  people.  There  were 
three  routes  of  travel:  one  by  way  of  the  Black  Sea  and  the 
Caspian;  another  through  Syria  and  the  Persian  Gulf;  the 
third  by  the  way  of  the  Red  Sea.  But  toward  the  end  of  the 
Middle  Ages  the  Ottoman  Turks  began  to  press  forward  in 
Asia  Minor  and  to  block  the  routes  of  travel,  checking  or  mak 
ing  dangerous  the  way  to  the  East.  In  1453  Constantinople 
fell  into  their  hands,  and  commerce  in  that  direction  was  ended. 


DISCOVERY  AND   EXPLORATION  3 

Turkish  corsairs  frequented  the  waters  of  the  eastern  Mediter 
ranean,  and  Europe  saw  herself  in  ganger  of  being  cut 
off  entirely  from  the  longed-for  wealth  of  "India  and 
Cathay".1 

Although  this  commerce  with  the  Orient  was  not  small 
and  had  lasted  for  centuries,  yet  in  the  fifteenth  century  the 

people  of  Europe  knew  little  of  India  or  China, 
Easf S  °n  the  since  the  traffic  was  in  general  carried  on  through 

middlemen.  Accounts  of  the  far  East  had  been 
written  by  travelers,  and  some  of  them  seem  to  have  had  in 
fluence  in  arousing  interest  in  those  regions.  Chief  among  these 
narratives  was  the  work  of  Marco  Polo,  an  Italian  traveler, 
who  spent  many  years  in  China,  and,  returning  to  Europe, 
recounted  strange  stories  of  the  wealth  and  glories  of  the  Great 
Khan.  He  described  not  only  China,  but  India,  and  made 
mention  of  Japan2  and  Java.  This  famous  book  was  one  of 
the  greatest  single  contributions  ever  made  to  geographical 
knowledge.  Its  descriptions  have  been  found  to  be,  on  the 
whole,  remarkably  correct.  In  the  next  century  after  Marco 

Polo  wrote  his  book  appeared  the  "Voyage  and 

Travels  of  Sir  John  Mandeville".  Such  a  man 
as  the  famous  Sir  John  probably  never  existed  in  the  flesh, 
any  more  than  did  Robinson  Crusoe.  The  stories  of  which 
he  was  the  hero  were  taken  bodily  from  other  writers;  but 
the  doughty  knight,  real  or  fictitious,  was  a  perfect  prince 
among  story-tellers  and  was  a  very  actual  person  to  the  men 
of  that  day,  who  read  with  eagerness  the  fascinating  tales  of 
the  marvelous  East.  He  told  of  pillars  of  gold  and  precious 
stones  half  a  foot  in  length,  of  golden  birds  that  clapped  their 
wings  by  magic,  of  golden  vines  laden  with  costly  jewels, 

1  Cathay  was  the  name  by  which  China  was  known  in  Europe.    India 
was  a  very  indefinite  term. 

2  Japan  had  the  name  Chipangu  or  Cipango  in  Marco  Polo's  book.     As 
we  shall    see,   Columbus    thought  that   he   had  reached  it,  and   at  one 
time  thought  that  Hayti  was  that  famous  land,  where  the  lord  of  the  islancj 
had  "a  great  palace  which  is  entirely  roofed  with  fine  gold.  .  .   .  Moreover, 
all  the  pavement  of  the  palace,  and  the  floors  of  its  chambers,  are  entirely 
of  gold  in  plates  like  slabs  of  stone,  a  good  two  fingers  thick". 


A  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

of  the  fountain  of  youth  whose  waters,  if  one  drank  them 
thrice,  would  make  one  ever  young.1 


SKETCH  OF  THE  PTOLEMY  MAP2 

While  men  were  interested,  as  they  had  not  been  for  cen 
turies  before,  in  eastern  traffic,  and  were  annoyed  and  troubled 
by  the  appearance  of  the  robber  Turk,  great  steps 
Beginning  of       were  Demg  taken   by   seamen    of    western   Eu- 

Atlantic  voyages;  T       ,.  ,     ,, 

results.  rope.     In  the  end,  the  great  western  ocean  was 

opened  up;   men   looked   boldly  out   upon    the 

rolling  waters  and  thought  of  lands  and  of  riches  awaiting  the 

1  "I,  John  Mandeville",  says  the  old  impostor,  "saw  this  well  and  drank 
thereof  thrice,  and  all  my  fellows,  and  evermore  since  that  time  I  feel  that 
I  am  better  and  haler".    Marco  Polo's  Travels  were  written  in  1299  in  the 
prison  at  Genoa.    Read  Marco  Polo's  Account  of  Japan  and  Java,  in  Old 
South  Leaflets,  No.  32. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  Mandeville  declares  that  "men  may  well  perceive 
that  the  land  and  sea  are  of  round  shape  and  form",  and  that  he  tells  of  a 
man  who  wandered  quite  around  the  earth  and  returned  to  his  own  home 
again. 

2  This  is  only  a  simplified  sketch  of  the  Ptolemy  map.    Ptolemy  was  a 
geographer  who  lived  in  the  old  Roman  Empire,  about  150  A.  D.;  his  maps 
were  studied  by  the  geographers  at  the  end  of  the  Middle  Ages.    It  shows 
how  little  was  known  of  the  earth,  and  how  wrong  was  much  that  the  geog 
raphers  thought  they  knew.     Strangely  enough,  the  merchants  and  sea 
going  men  of  the  time  had  far  better  maps  of  the  whole  Mediterranean 
region,  maps  which  were  made  for  real  service;  but  they  seem  to  have 
received  little  attention  from  scholars. 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION  5 

merchant  and  the  mariner.  The  early  voyages  had  little  imme 
diate  concern  with  attempts  to  reach  Asia;  but  as  the  years 
went  by  a  new  route  to  the  East  was  found,  and,  moreover, 
in  the  western  ocean,  one  sea-captain,  as  we  know,  bolder 
and  steadier  than  the  rest,  stumbled  upon  a  continent. 

From  the  earliest  dawn  of  history,  the  Mediterranean  had 
been  the  great  sea,  "the  center  of  the  earth".  The  ocean  was 
The  Portuguese  tne  "sea  of  darkness";  men  feared  to  go  out  upon 
mariners  of  the  its  fearful  waters.  But  in  the  fifteenth  century  the 
fifteenth  mariners  began  to  pluck  up  courage  and  to  make 

venturesome  voyages  along  the  coast  of  Africa. 
Under  the  stimulating  advice  and  encouragement  of  Prince 
Henry  of  Portugal,  who  won  the  title  of  Henry  the  Navigator, 
Portuguese  seamen  went  out  year  after  year,  on  voyages  of 


BUILDING  A  SHIP  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY 

discovery  toward  the  south,  and  by  their  hardy  bravery  gained 
skill  in  seamanship  and  helped  to  clispel  the  terrors  of  the 
ocean.1  It  is  a  great  story,  this  tale  of  the  new,  bold  seaman- 

1  Men  thought  in  the  early  days,  they  had  long  thought,  that  just  as  it 
grew  colder  and  colder  as  men  went  farther  north,  so  it  grew  hotter  and 
hotter  as  they  went  south,  till  none  could  live.  The  capes  on  the  western 
coast  of  Africa  tell  in  themselves  the  tale  of  the  effort  to  get  southward — 
Cape  Non,  that  is  Cape  "No";  Cape  Bojador,  the  "bulging"  cape;  Cape 
Blanco,  the  "white"  cape;  Cape  Verde,  the  "green"  cape.  On  the  green 


6  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

ship,  and  it  helped  to  bring  important  results.  After  Henry's 
death  (1460)  the  work  went  on,  and  before  the  end  of  the 
century  (1497)  Vasco  da  Gama,  rounding  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  made  his  way  northward  to  India,  and  returned  with  a 
c? rgo  of  the  coveted  spices  of  the  far  East.  The  voyages  and  dis 
coveries  of  the  Portuguese  navigators  brought  new  knowledge 
of  strange  coasts  and  helped  to  drive  away  from  men's  minds 
the  great  fear  of  the  Sea  of  Darkness,  which  had  been  supposed 
to  contain  all  kinds  of  dreadful  monsters  and  threaten  all  sorts 
of  fearful  dangers.  Europe  began  to  face  about  and  to  look 
out  upon  the  great  western  ocean,  whose  coast  had  for  so  many 
centuries  been  the  limit  of  the  civilized  world.1  It  was  a  great 
event  in  human  history,  when  men  began  to  use  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  and  make  of  it  a  highway  of  trade. 

It  has  long  been  thought  that  Christopher  Columbus,  know 
ing  that  the  world  was  round,  made  up  his  mind  to  go  westward 
_  ,  .  to  reach  the  east.  Such  a  purpose,  it  now  seems. 

Columbus.  ill  i  .  -Ti .  . 

was  probably  not  his  controlling  aim,  if  it  in 
fluenced  him  at  all.  He  probably  did  know  that  the  earth  was 
round,  for  such  was  the  belief  that  had  been  handed  down  by 
scholars  even  from  ancient  times;  but  we  are  now  led  to  be 
lieve  that  his  main  hope  was  to  find  new  lands,  not  as  the 
Portuguese  had  done,  along  or  near  the  coast  of  Africa,  but  far 
out  in  the  Atlantic,  rumors  of  which  had  long  been  heard,  and 
tales  of  which  had  been  told,  that  awakened  the  ambition  of 
a  man  fit  for  doing  big  things.2  In  1492,  standing  boldly  forth 

cape  were  waving  palms,  not  desolation  under  the  torrid  sun.  "Under  the 
shadow  of  the  palms  of  Cape  Verde",  says  one  writer,  "the  superstition  of 
the  Middle  Ages  lies  buried". 

1  It  sometimes  seems  as  if  the  thing  to  be  stressed  is  not  the  discovery  of 
the  new  land,  but  the  "new  $ea";  the  Atlantic  was  no  longer  a  barrier,  a 
limit,  but  a  highway;  as  the  years  went  on,  the  nations  of  western  Europe, 
and  the  little  sea-girt  island  of  England,  instead  of  being  far  away  from 
routes  of  trade  stood  in  the  vantage  point.     But  Italy  with  her  old-time 
culture  and  practice  furnished  many  of  the  early  leaders  for  the  west. 
Columbus,  sailing  under  the  flag  of  Spain,  was  an  Italian,  so  was  Vespucius, 
so  was  Cabot,  so  was  Verrazano,  who  carried  the  French  banner  along  the 
coast  of  the  American  continent. 

2  This  interpretation  of  the  desires  of  Columbus  is  not  the  one  commonly 
given.    For  centuries  men  have  thought  that  Columbus  started  out  with 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION 


from  the  port  of  Palos,  in  command  of  three  small  ships,  he 
sailed  westward,  pressed  patiently  on  and  in  October  touched 
upon  what  we  now  know  to  be  an  outlying  island  of  a  new 

world.     Before  returning  mM m     MB 

to  Europe  he  visited  other 
islands.  He  had  not  dis 
covered  a  land  with  mar 
ble  palaces  and  golden 
wonders,  as  described  by 
Marco  Polo  and  Mande- 
ville,  but  he  thought  he 
had;  and  on  reaching 
Spain  was  received  with 
triumphal  honors  as  one 
who  had  outdone  the  rest 
and  found  a  new  way  to 
eastern  splendors.1 

The  bold  explorer 
made  three  other  voyages, 
always  hop 
ing  to  find 
the  wealth 
and  glories  of  Cathay. 

On  his  second  voyage  he  established  a  colony  in  Hayti.2 
On  his  third  (1498)  he  discovered  the  mainland  of 
South  America,  but  he  supposed  the  land  to  be  part  of 


Other 
discoveries. 


THE  EARLIEST  ENGRAVED  LIKENESS  OF 
CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS 


the  intention  of  sailing  to  China  and  India.  Perhaps  he  did.  Certainly 
after  his  first  discoveries  he  maintained  that  he  had  found  the  East,  that  he 
had  seen  Japan  and  had  found  the  mainland.  On  his  third  voyage,  in  a 
state  of  exaltation,  he  thought  he  had  discovered  the  earthly  paradise. 
But  scholars  now  seriously  doubt  that  his  aim  at  first  was  to  discover  Asia; 
they  have  pored  over  all  the  available  material  and,  for  the  time  being  at 
least,  are  inclined  to  cast  aside  the  old  story  and  to  look  upon  the  voyage 
of  Columbus  as  a  successor  to  the  voyages  in  the  Atlantic,  which  for  nearly 
a  century  had  brought  honor  to  the  Portuguese. 

1  Columbus's  own  account  of  his  discovery  will  be  found  in  his  letter  to 
Santangel.    It  is  published  in  American  History  Leaflets,  No.  i. 

2  Columbus  left  some  men  on  the  island  on  his  first  voyage,  but  found 
only  ruins  of  their  houses  and  fort  "when  he  returned. 


8  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Asia,  or  in  the  near  neighborhood  of  the  wished-for  places. 

Shortly  after  returning  from  his.  fourth  expedition  he  died 
(1506)  in  Spain,  neglected,  poor,  and  broken 
hearted;  for  he  found  little  favor  with  the  people 

when  it  was  seen  that  he  had  not  brought  them  the  gold  and 

jewels  and  precious  fabrics  of  the  Orient,  but  had  "discovered 


Death. 


THE  FOUR  VOYAGES  or  COLUMBUS 


the  lands  of  deceit  and  disappointment — a  place  of  sepulchers 
and  wretchedness  to  Spanish  hidalgos". 

It  is  important  to  remember   that   the   desire   of   Europe 
was  not  to  discover  a  new  continent,  but  to  reach  Asia.    Men 

believed  that  the  new  discoveries  lay  along  the 
reach* Asia.  coast  of  China,  and  the  idea  only  gradually  took 

hold  of  them  that  the  lands  out  in  the  western 
ocean  were  parts  of  a  new  continent.  South  America,  which 
became  known  in  rough  outline  before  the  northern  continent 
was  well  known,  was  supposed  to  be  a  new  island  or  a  pro 
jection  from  Asia;  and,  after  the  coast  line  quite  well  to  the 
north  was  put  down  on  maps  and  charts,  the  hope  of  many 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION 


9 


voyagers  was  to  get  around  these  troublesome  barriers  or 
through  them,  and  to  find  their  way  to  the  coveted  riches  of 
India.  Even  after  European  settlements  were  made  in  the  new 
land  there  were  many  patient  explorations  of  bays  and  rivers 
in  hopes  of  finding  a  thoroughfare.  Slowly,  through  the  proc- 


A  SKETCH  OF  A  PORTION  OF  THE  BEHAIM  GLOBE,  1492,  WITH  AN  OUTLINE 
OF  THE  AMERICAN  CONTINENTS  SUPERIMPOSED  UPON  IT 

ess  of  decades,  the  Western  World  was  uncovered  and  opened 
up  to  be  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  known  geography  of  the  earth. 
Before  Columbus  had  completed  his  four  voyages  other 
important  discoveries  had  been  made.  In  1497,  "seeing  that 
the  most  serene  kings  of  Portugal  and  Spain  had  occupied 
unknown  islands",  John  Cabot,  an  Italian,  sailing  from  Bris 
tol,  England,  found  land  in  the  western  ocean,  and  returned 


10  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

to  tell  of  his  discoveries,  saying  he  had  discovered,  seven  hun* 
dred  leagues  away,  the  mainland  of  the  country  of  the  "Great 
Cham",  the  monarch  of  China.  He  seems  to  have  touched 
upon  the  coast  of  Labrador  or  Cape  Breton.  An  entry  in  the 
privy  purse  of  shrewd  Henry  VII  notes  that  £10  were  given 
"hym  that  founde  the  new  isle", — not  a  magnificent  gift  in 
light  of  the  fact  that  upon  this  voyage  of  the  Cabots  England 
later  based  her  claim  to  the  continent  of  North  America.  The 
next  year  another  voyage  was  made,  but  little  or  nothing  is 
known  with  certainty  of  the  extent  or  the  results. 1 

There  is  some  reason  for  believing  that  the  mainland  of 
South  America  was  first  visited  by  .an  expedition  that  set  sail 
from  Cadiz,  May  10,  1497.  Americus  Vespucius,2  a  Florentine 
merchant  and  traveler,  speaks  of  this  voyage  in  which  he  claims 
to  have  taken  part,  and  says  that  "at  the  end  of  twenty-seven 
days"  they  came  "upon  a  coast  which  we  thought  to  be  that  of 
a  continent".  Perhaps  he  never  made  such  a  voyage;  scholars 
doubt  it;  but,  at  all  events,  he  appears  to  have  been  on  an  ex 
pedition  in  1501,  and  he  certainly  knew  how  to  tell  a  wonder 
ful  tale  of  what  he  saw.  His  stories  of  far-off  lands  were  eagerly 
read;  his  description  of  the  great  body  of  land  in  the  south 
and  west,  which  did  not  appear  to  be  known  to  geographers  as 


1  The  ambassador  from  Milan,  Italy,  wrote  home  about  this  adventur 
ous  fellow-countryman,  who  sailed  from  England  and  for  England.     "This 
Messer  Zoanne  [Mr.  John]  has",  he  said,  "the  description  of  the  world  on 
a  chart,  and  also  on  a  solid  sphere  which  he  has  constructed,  and  on  which 
he  shows  where  he  has  been  .  .  .  and  they  say  that  there  the  land  is  excellent 
and  temperate,  suggesting  that  Brasil  [Brazil  wood]  and  silk  grow  there. 
They  affirm  that  the  sea  is  full  of  fish,  which  are  not  only  taken  with  a  net, 
but  also  with  a  basket,  a  stone  being  fastened  to  it,  in  order  to  keep  it  in  the 
water".    Mr.  John  probably  drew  the  long  bow  when  talking  about  climate 
and  silk,  and  indulged  in  a  pleasant  fish  story  or  two;  but,  if  it  was  not  even 
then  possible  to  catch  the  simple  cod  in  a  market  basket,  there  were  fish  in 
plenty,  and  not  many  years  passed  before  the  banks  of  Newfoundland  and 
Cape  Breton  were  regularly  visited  by  hardy  fishermen  from  Europe,  who 
took  little  interest  in  affairs  of  the  "Great  Cham".    The  discovery  of  this 
fishing  region  was  in  itself  an  important  fact  in  history. 

2  This  is  the  Latin  form  of  the  name.    In  Italian  it  is  Americo  or  Amer 
igo  Vespucci. 


All  the  land  west  of  the  Line  of 
Demarcation  was  claimed  by 
Spain,  and  all  east,  by  Portugal, 


EARLY  EXPLORATIONS  IN  THE  NEW  WORLD 


12  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

part  of  Asia,  was  vivid  and  interesting.  His  story,  written  in  a  pri 
vate  letter,1  was  printed  and  widely  circulated.  In  1 507  a  young 
German  professor,  living  at  St.  Die,  in  the  Vosges  Mountains, 
published  a  little  volume  on  geography,  and  with  it  some  letters 
of  Vespucius,  and  suggested  that,  inasmuch  as  a  fourth  part  of 
the  earth  had  been  discovered  by  Americus,  it  be  called  Amer 
ica.2  This  name  came  into  general  use  only  slowly,  being 

Nuc  5^0  Sc  li£  partes  funt  latius  luftratce/&  alia 

quartapars  per  America  Vefputiu(vt  in  fequenti 

bus  audietur  )inuenta  eft/qua  non  video  cur  quis 

iure  veterab  Americo  inuentore  fagacis  ingeni)  vi 

AmcriV  ro  Amerigen  quafi  Amend  terra  /  fiue  Americam 

ca          dicenda:cu  Sc  Europa  8£  Afia  a  mulieribus  fua  for 

tita  fintnomina.Eius  fitu  &  gentis  mores  ex  bis  bi 

nis  Americi  nauigationibus  quae  fequuntliquide 

intelligidatur. 

FACSIMILE  OF  THE  SENTENCE  IN  WHICH  AMERICA  WAS  FIRST  NAMED,  FROM 
THE  COSMOGRAPHLE  INTRODUCTIO,  1507 

applied  first  to  the  unknown  lands,  "the  New  World"  on  the 
south,  and  then  given  to  both  continents.3 

In  1519  Ferdinand  Magellan  started  upon  a  great  and 
eventful  voyage.  He  discovered  the  straits  that  bear  his  name 
and,  passing  boldly  through,  crossed  the  broad  Pacific,  sailing 

1  In  his  letter  Vespucius  spoke  in  wonder  of  what  he  saw  on  the  Brazilian 
coast,  and  said,  "Novum  mundum  appellate  licet" — one  might  call  it  a  new 
world.    This  letter,  when  published,  bore  the  title  Novus  Mundus. 

2  In  another  place  is  the  same  suggestion:  "But  now  these  parts  have' 
been  more  extensively  explored,  and  .  .  .  another  fourth  part  has  been  dis 
covered.   .    .    .Wherefore  I  do  not  see  what  is  rightly  to  hinder  us  from  call 
ing  it  after  its  discoverer,  Americus,  a  man  of  sagacious  mind,  Amerige — 
i.  e.,  the  land  of  Americus,  or  America,  since  both  Europe  and  Asia  have 
got  their  names  from  women". 

8  For  Vespucius,  see  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America, 
vol.  ii,  chap,  ii;  Fiske,  Discovery  of  America,  vol.  ii,  pp.  25-175,  especially 
p.  97.  Fiske  is  a  great  believer  in  poor  old  Vespucius,  whom  most  scholars 
have  soundly  berated.  For  a  careful  treatment,  see  Bourne,  Spain  in  Amer 
ica,  chap.  vii. 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION 


13 


day  after  day  and  week  after  week  over  the  wide  ocean.  Ma 
gellan  himself  was  killed  in  the  Philippine  Islands;  but  one  of 
his  vessels,  with  a  remnant  of  her  crew,  sailed  to 
Spain,  completing  the  first  circumnavigation  of 
the  globe.  Judged  by  its  results,  this  voyage  was 
not  so  important  as  many  others,  but  it  was  one  of  the 
greatest  feats  of  bold  navigation  in  history.  It  shows  how 


Magellan, 
1519-21. 


THE  ROUTE  OF  MAGELLAN 

much  had  been  done  in  this  wonderful  era  in  the  course  of 
a  few  years;  for,  fifty  years  before,  the  Portuguese  seamen 
had  sailed  hardly  more  than  halfway  down  the  western  coast 
of  Africa. 

While  for  nearly  a  century  after  the  discovery  of  America 
other  nations  did  little  to  get  possession  of  dominions  in  the 
...  New  World,  Spain  entered  eagerly  .into,  the  task, 
exploration,        Settlements  were  made  in  the  West  Indies,  and 
bold   adventurers   made   long  journeys   into   the 
interior  of  the  continents  looking  for  the  fabulous  riches  of 
Cathay.     Ponce  de  Leon,  seeking  the  fountain    of   perpetual 
youth,  explored  Florida,  "the  land  ot  Easter''.1    Balboa,  from 
a  peak  in  Darien,  looked  out  upon  trie  waters  of  the  great 
Pacific.  Somewhat  later  Pineda  entered  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  and  called  it  the  Rio  de  Santo 
Espiritu,  the  River  of  the  Holy  Spirit.    In  1539-42  De  Soto 


1513, 


1  Ponce  de  Leon  saw  ^Florida  on  Easter-Day.    In  Spanish  this  day  is 
Pascua  Florida,  the  flowery  passover.  » 


14 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


WESTERN  HALF  OF  LENOX  GLOBE  l 

made  his  famous  march  through  the  southern  part  of  what  h 
now  the  United  States.    About  the  same  time  Coronado,  start 
ing  in  search  of  the  fabulous  '  'seven  cities  of 
X540<  Cibola",   wandered   over   the  dreary  plains   and 

through  the  mountain  denies  of  the  southwest.     These  cx- 

1  This  map  follows  a  sketch  given  in  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  His 
tory  of  America,  vol.  ii,  p.  170  (by  permission  of  the  publishers,  Houghton, 
Mifflin  &  Co.).  It  is  the  part  of  a  globe  made  about  1510  or  1511,  now  in 
the  Public  Library,  New  York.  It  shows  the  Mundus  Novus  of  Vespucius 
as  an  island  southeast  of  Zipangri  (Japan).  Othef  interesting  maps  will  be 
found  in  Winsor,  vol.  ii. 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION 


15 


plorations   accomplished   little,1    but    in    Central  and    South 
America  the  Spanish  soldiers  won  a  great  and  wealthy  empire; 
Hernando  Cortes 

Spanish  -,     ,  , 

dominion.  conquered  Mex 
ico  (1519-21); 
the  Pizarros  conquered  Peru 
(1531-34).  In  1565  a  settle 
ment  was  made  at  St.  Au 
gustine,  the  first  European 
settlement  within  the  future 
limits  of  the  United  States. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that 
Spain  occupied  the  islands  of 
the  West  Indies 
and  the  semi-civ- 
ilized  countries  of 
the  two  continents.  The  In 
dians  of  the  islands  were  timid, 
and  incapable  of  resisting  the 
cruel  Spanish  soldiers;  the 
people  of  Mexico  and  Peru 
were  not  able  to  unite  effect 
ively  against  the  invaders; 
and  so  the  power  of  Spain 
was  established  with  little 

difficulty,  and  she  became  possessed  of  a  great  subject  empire 
in  the  New  World,  from  which  came  gold  and  silver  in  abun- 

1  Little  by  little  the  general  character  of  the  new  continents  was  discov 
ered,  "uncovered";  but  men  long  thought  they  were  wandering  over  some 
strange  projection  of  Asia,  and  even  when  they  realized  that  new  conti 
nents  were  before  them,  they  often  looked  upon  the  new  region  as  a  vexing 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  reaching  China.  To  many  traders  and  explorers 
from  western  Europe  the  task  long  remained  to  find  a  way  through  or 
around  the  inconvenient  continents.  The  Indians,  the  mountains,  the 
great  plains  of  the  west,  the  heavy  forests  of  the  eastern  Mississippi 
region,  the  long  rolling  rivers,  were  seen  by  one  or  another  of  the  Spanish 
explorers  and  by  those  who  came  after,  and  gradually  the  general  char 
acter  of  the  western  world  was  known. 

2 This  map  shows  the  word  America  applied  to  both  the  northern  and 
southern  continents.  It  was  long  supnosed  to  be  the  very  first,  but  quite 
8 


THE  MERCATOR  MAP  OF  1541 2 


16 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


M.    A  TLA  NT.         +& 

HIsrfTlUA 

L^ 


FIN7EUS  -1531 


A  MAP  OF  1531,  SKETCHED  IN  OUTLINE 

dance.1  To  govern  such  an  empire  her  character  and  her  con- 
.dition  fitted  her.  We  now  look  back  upon  the  history  of 
Spanish  colonization  and  see  the  mistakes  in  her  system  and 
her  spirit;  her  colonies  were  too  often  harshly  governed;  they 
were  outlying  dependencies,  furnishing  the  ruling  land  with 
treasure  and  with  trade;  but  withal  Spain  transferred  to 
America  European  law  and  religion,  and  the  mark  of  her  hand 
will  ever  be  seen  in  the  states  of  Central  and  South  America.1 

recently  another  map  (also  by  Mercator)  has  been  discovered  that  was 
made  three  years  earlier.  Mercator  was  the  wisest  geographer  of  the  time, 
and  showed  a  truly  wonderful  power  of  interpreting  the  reports  of  travel 
ers  and  explorers  and  of  divining  the  truth.  The  map  as  here  given  follows 
a  sketch  made  by  Mr.  Winsor  himself,  and  reproduced  in  his  Narrative 
and  Critical  History  of  America,  vol.  ii,  p.  177  (by  permission  of  the  pub 
lishers,  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.).  The  original  map  is  on  gores.  For  an 
example  of  this  method  of  making  maps,  see  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical 
History  of  America,  vol.  ii,  p.  120. 

1  The  development  of  Spain  in  the  course  of  a  few  decades  is  a  striking 
tact  in  history.     In  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  Spain  was  not  even 


DISCOVERY  AND  EXPLORATION  17 

After  the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus,  the  Pope, 
Alexander  VI,  issued  two  bulls,  dividing  the  heathen  lands 

of  the  world  between  Portugal  and  Spain.  These 
The  bull  of  gave  to  §pain  aii  she  might  discover  west  of  a  line 
I493.  drawn  one  hundred  leagues  west  of  the  Azores  and 

the  Cape  Verde  Islands.  The  next  year  the  two 
powers  entered  into  an  agreement,  in  accordance  with  which 
the  dividing  line  should  be  three  hundred  and  seventy  leagues 
west  of  the  Cape  Verde  Islands.  Upon  this  agreement,  duly 
ratified  by  the  Pope,  Spain  based  her  claim  to  the  New  World. 

REFERENCES 

THWAITES,  The  Colonies,  Chapters  I  and  II;  FISHER,  The  Colonial 
Era,  pp.  1-20 ;  FISKE,  The  Discovery  of  America,  Volume  I,  especially 
Chapters  I,  II,  III,  V,  VIII,  IX,  and  X;  CHANNING,  History  of  the 
United  States,  Volume  I,  Chapters  I-III.  Longer  accounts :  MARKHAM, 
Christopher  Columbus;  ADAMS,  Christopher  Columbus.  See  also  FAR- 
RAND,  Basis  of  American  History,  pp.  3-88;  CHEYNEY,  European 
Background  of  American  History,  pp.  3-41 ;  BOURNE,  Spain  in  America. 

an  united  kingdom;  before  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  Spanish 
power  reached  towering  heights.  In  America,  in  Africa,  in  the  far  East,  in 
different  parts  of  Europe,  her  hand  was  raised  with  authority.  The  Span 
ish  kings  were  charged  with  zeal  for  universal  empire;  little  England  and 
littler  Holland  stood  in  the  way,  and  had  the  strength  in  time  to  break 
down  her  power  upon  the  sea. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE   SOUTHERN   COLONIES— 1607-1700 

While  Spain  in  the  hundred  years  after  Columbus  was  build 
ing  her  colonial  empire,  the  other  nations  of  Europe  accom 
plished  nothing  in  the  way  of  actual  settlement  of  the  New 
World.  France,  it  is  true,  took  some  interest  and  made  some 
explorations.  Hardly  was  the  New  World  known  to  the  Old, 
when  the  hardy  fishermen  of  Brittany  began  to  visit  the  fisheries 
of  Newfoundland.  Verrazano,  in  1524,  sailed  along  the  North 
American  coast  from  North  Carolina  to  Maine.  Ten  years 
later  Jacques  Cartier  explored  the  lower  part  of  the  St.  Law 
rence,  and  the  next  year  visited  the  present  site  of  Montreal.  A 
few  years  after  this  (1542-43)  an  attempt  was  made  to  plant 
a  colony  in  the  new-found  region,  but  without  success.  The 
Huguenots  sought  to  settle  in  Brazil,  but  the  effort  ended  in 
miserable  failure.  A  colony  formed  in  Florida  was  destroyed  by 
the  Spaniards,  .and  its  people  were  murdered  in  the  cold 
blooded  fashion  of  which  the  Spanish  soldier  of  the  day  was 
master.1 

Thus  Spain,  unsuccessful  herself  in  obtaining   a   hold  on 

the  Atlantic  coast  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  save  in  the 

weak  outpost  at  St.  Augustine,  which  hardly  de- 

Effsct  of  French  served  the  name  of  colony,  did  succeed  in  prevent- 

nvairy.  mg  the  French  from  settling  in  the  south,  while 

the  cold  winters  of  the  north  brought  disaster  to 

French  colonists  on  the  St.  Lawrence.    As  a  consequence,  the 

middle  Atlantic  coast  remained  to  the  end  of  the  century  free 

1  Graphic  accounts  of  these  early  French  enterprises  will  be  found  in 
Parkman,  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World,  pp.  9-183.  Shorter  ac 
counts  will  be  found  in  Doyle,  The  English  in  America,  vol.  i  (The 
Southern  Colonies);  Fiske,  The  Discovery  of  America,  vol.  ii,  pp.  512-522; 
Thwaites,  France  in  America. 

19 


20  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

from  settlements,  and  England  was  given  the  chance  to  oc 
cupy  it  with  her  colonies. 

Not  till  the  beginning  of  the  next  century,  when  France 
was  inwardly  at  peace,  did  the  French  succeed  in  making  a  per 
manent  settlement  in  America.  In  1605  Port 
Permanent  Royal,  in  Acadia,  was  founded,  and  three  years 
colonies.  later  Champlain  founded  Quebec.  How  the  French 

power  developed  in  Canada,  and  how  the  French 
endeavored  to  extend  their  sway  over  the  whole  interior  of  the 
continent,  will  be  told  in  a  later  chapter.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
here  that  England  and  France  came  to  vie  with  each  other  for 
dominion  in  North  America;  and  while  in  the  course  of  a  hun 
dred  and  fifty  years  the  English  colonies  along  the  middle 
Atlantic  coast  were  growing  strong  and  vigorous,  the  French, 
as  an  ever  watchful,  zealous  enemy,  sought  to  check  the  prog 
ress  of  their  rivals. 

It  is  highly  important  that  the  main  features  of  the  geo 
graphical  situation  should  be  kept  in  mind.  The  Spanish 
t-  *  *  **t,  were  at  the  south;  the  French,  after  1605,  were 

Contests  or  the  '  '  . 

nations  for  the  established  at  the  north;  the  middle  portion, 
possession  of  from  Maine  to  Florida,  was  unsettled  at  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Into  this 
middle  portion .  came  the  people  of  England,  and  the  Dutch 
and  Swedes  also.  In  the  course  of  a  few  years,  Holland  and 
Sweden  being  too  weak  to  retain  their  hold  upon  it,  it  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  English.  Then  began  a  contest  between  France 
and  England,  a  contest  for  wider  dominion,  and  in  this  contest 
England  was  successful.  Thus  by  the  end  of  what  we  call  the 
colonial  period  the  whole  of  North  America l  was  possessed 
by  two  nations,  England  and  Spain.  Let  us  now  turn  to  the 
founding  and  upbuilding  of  the  English  colonies. 

VIRGINIA 

During  the  early  decades  of  the  sixteenth  century  England 
prospered,  and,  when  Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne  in  1558, 

1  Russia,  it  is  true,  had  already  done  something  in  Alaska. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES-1607-1700  21 

was  prepared  to  enter  upon  a  new  career,  to  reach  out  for 
new  traffic,  to  grow  in  riches,  to  develop  in  every  way.  But 
there  stood  Spain,  holding  the  New  World  and 
drawing  away  its  treasure,  looking  askance 
at  the  expansion  of  English  trade,  jealously 
watching  every  move.  The  two  nations  were  now  bitterly 
hostile,  and  each  passing  year  added  to  the  feeling.  The 
hostility  was  partly  religious,  for  Englishmen  felt  that 
Spain  stood  for  the  power  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
while  they  were  now  largely  Protestants;  it  was  partly  com 
mercial,  for  English  merchants  fretted  against  Spanish  pre 
sumption  and  her  monopoly  in  the  New  World;  it  was  partly 
political  or  patriotic,  for  men  feared  and  disliked  the  over 
powering  might  of  Spain,  whose  hand  and  sword  were  always 
in  sight,  and  they  saw  that,  if  England  was  to  prosper  and 
build  up  her  trade,  she  must  not  cower  before  Spain,  she  must 
not  let  Spain  rule  the  sea.  Probably  every  man  of  ordinary  in 
sight  "within  the  four  seas"  saw  that  Spain's  power  was  a 
menace  to  English  freedom;  but  the  thing  was  most  keenly 
seen  by  the  great  sea-captains  of  the  day — great  captains  who 
were  also  great  statesmen;  scorning  the  threats  of  Philip 
against  any  who  should  visit  the  seas  of  the  West  Indies,  they 
lay  in  wait  for  galleons  freighted  with  the  treasures  of  Mex 
ico  and  Peru  and  robbed  them  ruthlessly;  they  despised  the 
vaunted  power  of  Spain  on  the  sea,  and  stood  ready  to  show 
the  world  that  the  Spanish  king  was  but  a  king  1  "of  figs  and 
oranges".  The  very  names  of  these  daring  and  incomparable 
seamen  were  dreaded  in  the  settlements  of  the  New  World.2 

Chief  among  the  seamen  was  Francis  Drake.    He  was  tjie 
first  Englishman  to  carry  the  flag  into  the  Pacific.     Sailing 


1  "And  if  the  late  queen",  said  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  at  a  later  day,  "would 
have  believed  her  men  of  war  as  she  did  her  scribes,  we  had  in  her  time 
beaten  that  great  empire  in  pieces  and  made  their  kings,  kings  of  figs  and 
oranges". 

2  An  interesting  account  is  to  be  found  in  Green,  History  of  the  Eng 
lish  People,  chap.  vii. 


22  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

through  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  he  loaded  his  bark  with  gold 
and  silver  and  precious  jewels  from  Spanish  ships,  taking  from 
one  alone  the  sum  of  three  million  dollars.1    Pass- 
DrakrndS         in8   to   the  north>  ne  reached  the  coast  of  Cali 
fornia  or  southern  Oregon  and  took  formal  pos 
session  of  the  region,  naming  it  New  Albion.    He  then  crossed 
the  Pacific  and  completed  the  second  navigation  of  the  globe 


AN  ENGLISH  SHIP  OF  PRIVATE  OWNERSHIP,  ABOUT  THE  TIME  OF  SIR  JOHN 

HAWKINS 

(1577-80).  The  expeditions  of  men2  like  Drake  were  at 
least  half  piratical,  but  they  were  the  necessary  forerunners 
of  English  colonization,  for  they  gave  courage  to  English 


1  Fletcher,  Drake's  chaplain,  who  wrote  an  account  of  the  voyage,  speaks 
of -taking  thirteen  chests  of  silver  reals,  eighty  pounds  weight  of  goldk 
twenty-six  tons  of  uncoined  silver,  two  very  fair  gilt  silver  drinking  bowls, 
"and  the  like  trifles". 

2  Famous  among  these  men  was  John  Hawkins,   a  valiant  seaman, 
knighted  by  Queen  Elizabeth  for  his  success  in  the  slave  trade.    He  who 
made  himself  famous  in  this  horrible  traffic  seems  not  to  have  realized  its 
horror  or  its  wickedness.    For  he  was  a  pious,  religious  spirit,  and  carried 
slaves  or  fought  the  Spanish  with  as  clear  a  conscience  as  if  engaged  in  holy 
errand.    His  sailing  orders  to  his  ships  close  with  the  words:  "Serve  God 
daily;  love  one  another;  preserve  your  victuals;  beware  of  fire;  and  keep 
good  company!" 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700 


23 


seamen  and  helped  to  break  down  all  fear  of  the  power  of 
Spain.1 

Of  like  temper  with  Drake  and  the  "sea  kings"  were  Sir 
Humphrey  Gilbert  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  fervid  and  de 
termined  souls,  members  of  that  noble  company  of  English 
men  who  gathered  around  Elizabeth  and  helped  to  make 


THE  SPANISH  ARMADA  AND  THE  ENGLISH  FLEET  IN  THE  CHANNEL 
From  an  old  tapestry  in  the  House  of  Lords 

England  strong.  These  men  were  bent  on  founding  colonies 
and  they  tried  their  best,  only  to  meet  with  discouragement 
and  failure;  the  attempts  are  now  interesting  only  because 
they  were  the  beginning  of  serious  efforts  to  extend  English 
power  by  actual  colonization,  and  because  they  show  us  the 
gathering  spirit  of  England.2 

1  Few  things  in  history  are  more  important  than  the  establishment  of 
England's  sea  power.    We  may  not  admire  or  sympathize  with  the  ways 
and  purposes  of  the  "sea-kings",  the  fearless  seamen  of  the  sixteenth  cen 
tury,  but  we  must  fall  victim  to  the  charm  of  their  astounding  courage  and 
see  that  by  them  was  laid  the  foundation  for  English  empire.    "Drake", 
says  Professor  Seeley,  "is  one  of  the  great  men  of  that  age;  his  name  was 
bruited  about  Europe  and  pronounced  with  admiration  by  the  Spaniards 
themselves.     In  our  own  history  few  have  done  so  much.     The  British 
trade,  the  British  empire,  the  British  navy — of  all  these  colossal  growths, 
the  root  is  in  him". 

2  Gilbert  and  Raleigh  believed,  as  did  Drake,  that  the  place  to  whip 
Spain  was  on  the  sea,  and  they  believed  that  England  should  have  colonies 


24  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

A  number  of  the  men  who  were  actively  interested  with 
Raleigh  were  subscribers  to  the  company  which  made  a  per- 
Coionization  by  mancnt  settlement  at  Jamestown,  the  planting 
the  middle  of  which  is  soon  to  be  told.  And  yet  there  is  a 
marked  difference  between  the  efforts  of  the  six 
teenth  and  those  of  the  seventeenth  century.  With  the  age  of 
Elizabeth  there  seemed  to  pass  away  the  flavor  of  romance  and 
adventure;  the  settlements  under  prosaic  James  I  were  the 
offspring  of  the  economic  needs  of  England.  "We  pass  .  .  .  into 
the  sober  atmosphere  of  commercial  and  political  records, 
amid  which  we  faintly  spell  out  the  first  germs  of  the  consti 
tutional  life  of  British  America".  The  Englishman  who  suc 
ceeded  in  colonizing  America  was  not  the  gay  courtier  or  the 
daring  buccaneer  or  the  bold  freebooter  or  the  gallant  soldier 
of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  but  the  steady  representative  of 
the  industrious,  plodding  men  of  the  middle  classes,  whose 
wants  and  thoughts  henceforth  were  the  directive  forces  of 
English  history.1  The  'first  settlements  of  the  seventeenth 
century  contained  some  of  the  elements  of  romantic 
England;  but  only  when  these  were  cast  aside  did  the  colo 
nies  prosper. 

Other  motives  than  a  desire  for  wealth  or  a  longing  to 
curb  the  power  of  Spain  seem  to  have  had  their  influence  with 

in  America  partly  for  trade,  partly  as  outposts  against  Spanish  power. 
Gilbert  tried  to  make  settlements  in  Newfoundland  (1579-83)  but  failed. 
Raleigh  tried  at  the  South  and  tried  again,  but  to  no  purpose.  When  the 
century  closed,  the  long  stretches  of  American  coast  held  no  English  set 
tlement,  the  long  coast  called  Virginia  in  honor  of  the  queen  whom  these 
daring  spirits  served  so  well. 

In  1587  over  a  hundred  men,  women,  and  children  were  left  on  the 
coast  of  North  Carolina,  and  when  some  three  years  later  assistance  was 
sent  to  them  they  were  not  to  be  found.  This  was  Raleigh's  "lost  colony". 

1  Winsor's  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  vol.  iii,  has  an 
interesting  chapter  on  Hawkins  and  Drake,  also  one  on  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 
For  further  facts,  see  Fisher,  The  Colonial  Era,  p.  23  fol.;  Thwaites,  The 
Colonies,  p.  38  fol.;  Bancroft,  History,  vol.  i,  chap,  v,  p.  60;  Doyle,  The 
English  in  America  (The  Southern  Colonies),  p.  57  fol. 

For  a  picture  of  the  England  of  Drake  and  Raleigh,  of  Gilbert  and  Sir 
Philip  Sydney,  read  Charles  Kingslcy's  Westward  Ho!  or  Scott's  Kenil- 
worth. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700  25 

those  who  undertook  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century  to  found  a  permanent  settlement  in  America.  The 
industrial  condition  of  England  naturally  turned  men's  thoughts 
to  plans  of  colonization.  The  people  were  rest- 
less  and  uneasy;  soldiers  who  had  fought  for 
Elizabeth  found  their  occupation  gone  and 
wished  for  further  excitement;  many  men  were  out  of 
work,  for  the  conversion  of  plow  land  into  sheep  farms  de 
prived  laborers  of  employment.  There  was  a  complaint  that 
England  was  overcrowded — a  strange  complaint,  one  might 
think,  inasmuch  as  the  population  of  Great  Britain  has  in 
creased  tenfold  since  that  day.  But  in  those  days,  before  the 
invention  of  modern  machinery,  men  could  not  easily  find 
employment  save  as  tillers  of  the  soil.  The  country  there 
fore  was  overcrowded  with  those  who  had  no  work;  lawless 
ness  prevailed  and  crimes  were  frequent.1  Under  these  cir 
cumstances  men  turned  their  thoughts  to  America  as  a  fit 
place  to  which  to  move  the  unemployed.  Partly,  then,  as 
a  business  enterprise,  partly  in  consideration  of  England's 
industrial  condition,  partly  from  motives  of  patriotism 
in  order  that  England,  as  well  as  her  hated  rival,  Spain, 
might  have  possessions  across  the  sea,  colonization  was 
undertaken. 

For  the  prosecution  of  this  enterprise,  a  number  of  men 

sought  and  received  a  charter  from  King  James.    The  charter 

was   complex   and   intricate,   providing   for   two 

The  London       companies  of  like  character.    One  was  composed 

and  Plymouth  x  •       * 

Companies.  of  London  merchants,  and  had  authority  to  es 
tablish  a  settlement  between  the  thirty-fourth 
and  forty-first  degrees  of  latitude;  in  other  words,  somewhere 
between  Cape  Fear  and  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson.  The  other, 
the  Plymouth  Company,  was  made  up  of  "sundry  knights, 

1  The  Spanish  minister  in  London  wrote  to  his  king  that  the  chief  reason 
for  the  English  effort  to  colonize  Virginia  was  that  a  colony  "would  give 
an  outlet  to  so  many  idle  and  wretched  people  as  they  have  in  Eng 
land".  See  Hart,  American  History  told  by  Contemporaries,  vol.  i,  pp. 
154,  *S5- 


26 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


gentlemen,  merchants,  and  other  adventurers  of  Bristol  and 
Exeter,  and  of  our  town  of  Plimouth",  and  it  could  found  a 
colony  between  the  thirty-eighth  and  the  forty-fifth  degrees, 


TERRITORY 

Granted  by  the  Charter  of 
16OO 

GRANT  EXTENED  100  MILES  INLAND 

AND    INCLUDED  ALSO  ALL  ISLANDS 

100  MILES  FROM  THE  COAST. 


or  between  the  southern  point  of  Maryland  and  the  Bay 
of  Fundy.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  grant  to  one  of  the 
companies  over-lapped  the  other  by  three  degrees,  but  it  was 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700  27 

provided  that  one  was  not  to  make  a   settlement  within  a 
hundred  miles  of  the  other.1 

It  was  also  provided  by  the  charter  that  each  of  these 
companies  should  have  a  council,  resident  in  America;  and 
there  was  to  be  one  general  superior  council  in 
England.  The  affairs  of  the  company  were  in 
the  hands  of  the  council,  but  it  must  govern  "ac 
cording  to  such  laws,  ordinances,  and  instructions  as  shall  be 
in  that  behalf  given  and  signed  with  our  hand  or  sign  manual" 
— that  is  to  say,  according  -to  the  orders  of  the  king.  The 
colonists  and  their  children  were  to  have  "all  liberties,  fran 
chises,  and  immunities"  of  native-born  subjects  of  the  king. 

A  company  of  colonists  sailed  for  America  in  December, 

i6o6.2     Among  them  were  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men — 

white-handed  gentlemen,   hoping   to  find  imme- 

The  settlers.  ....  , 

diate  riches;  broken  gallants  and  ruined  trades 
men;  and  a  few  "carpenters"  and  "laborers".  The  gentle 
men  made  up  more  than  half  the  company.3  It  was  a  motley 
company,  eager  for  adventure,  and  hoping  to  gather  with 
ease  the  precious  stones  and  gold  and  silver  with  which  the 
country  was  strewn.4  They  were  ill  fitted  to  build  homes  in 
a  wilderness,  to  fell  the  forest,  to  plant  corn,  to  toil  and  struggle 
in  patience — "more  fit  to  spoil  a  commonwealth  than  either 
begin  one  or  but  help  to  maintain  one". 5 


1  It  should  not  be  supposed  that  this  charter  was  given  to  the  colonists; 
it  gave  to  certain  men  the  right  to  found  a  colony  in  America  and  gave 
certain  rights  to  trade,  etc.,  but  the  company  was  largely  m  theyh^ndsof 
a  council  in  England  appointed  by  the  king. 

2  The  whole  story  of  the  settlement  is  vividly  told  in  Coora"  Virginia, 
Part  I,  and  in  Eggleston,  Beginners  of  a  Nation,  pp.  1-72. 

3  "They  were  going  to  a  wilderness  in  which,  as  yet,  not  a  house  was 
standing,  and  there  were  forty-eight  gentlemen  to  four  carpenters". — Ban 
croft,  History,  vol.  i,  p.  88. 

4  "For  rubies  and  diamonds,  they  go  forth  on  Holydays  and  gather 
them  by  the  seashore,  to  hang  on  their  children's  coats  and  stick  in  their 
caps".    These  words  are  from  Eastward  Ho!  a  popular  play  in  England 
at  this  time. 

5  Captain  John  Smith's  The  Generall  Historic  of  Virginia. 


28  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1607  the  expedition  entered  Chesa 
peake  Bay,  and  in  May  decided  to  build  a  town  on  a  low  penin 
sula  jutting  out  into  one  of  the  rivers  that  flows 
Jamestown,        through  the  fertile  and  attractive  country  south 
of  the  great  bay.    In  honor  of  their  monarch  they 
named  the  river  the  James  and  their  town  Jamestown. 

The  history  of  the  lonesome  body  of  men  thus  settled  at 
the  edge  of  the  great  wilderness  is  an  old,  old  story,  which 
will  always  hold  its  interest,  but  for  us  the  de- 
tails  are  not  imPortant:  tnev  quarreled  and 
wrangled;  they  sought  for  gold  or  a  passage  to 
the  "south  sea";  they  longed  for  the  meats  and  ale  of  merry 
England;  and  they  starved.  "Burning  fevers  destroyed  them", 
says  Percy,  one  of  the  company;  "some  departed  suddenly, 
but  for  the  most  part  they  died  of  mere  famine".  One  big 
man  rose  up  among  them,  John  Smith,1  by  name, — a  vehe 
ment,  boastful,  resourceful  person,  who  helped  in  some  degree 
to  save  the  colony.  But  at  the  end  of  two  or .  three  years, 
though  supplies  and  men  came  from  England,  the  settlement 
was  in  a  frightful  condition. 

In  1609  a  change  of  importance  was  made.  A  great  corpo 
ration  was  formed  to  take  upon  itself  this  colonial  enterprise. 
The  limits  of  the  settlement  as  provided  for  by 
the  charter  of  1606  were  cast  aside  and  to  this 
corporation  was  given  a  vast  estate  stretching 
westward  to  the  south  sea.  In  1612  a  second  charter  was  is 
sued  not  materially  altering  the  one  of  three  years  before,  but 
more  completely  giving  to  the  corporation  the  power  of  choos- 

1  "He  was  perhaps  the  last  professional  knight  errant  that  the  world 
saw — a  free  lance  who  could  not  hear  of  a  fight  going  on  anywhere  in  the 
world  without  hastening  to  take  a  hand  in  it".  See  Tyler,  History  of  Amer 
ican  Literature,  vol.  i,  p.  18.  Tyler's  description  of  Smith  and  his  writings 
is  full  of  charm  and  interest.  The  portrait  on  the  opposite  page  is  from 
Smith's  The  Generall  Historic  of  Virginia,  and  is  a  part  of  the  Map  of  New 
England.  For  a  part  of  this  map,  see  the  chapter  on  New  England.  "You 
must  obey  this  now  for  a  law",  said  Smith  in  the  darkest  days,  "that  he 
who  will  not  work  shall  not  eat"  —  a  wholesome  motto,  but  he  later  com 
plained  that  "there  was  now  no  thought,  no  discourse,  no  hope,  and  no 
work,  but  dig  gold,  wash  gold,  refine  gold,  load  gold". 


arc  the  Lines  ihatjfi&v  ity~Face;lut  thofe 
Tiew  -thy  Gl*(tCC  and  (flo^y*  brighter  kce 
fjLJy  lF(lirc-3)ifcoueries  and  J?owl&— Overthrowes 
Of  Sal\>00es,muck,  OwitUtj,  fy    tke4-»Q 
'Befcjhew  thy  Spirfaand  -to  it  Glory  (Wy 
Sojhou. 


30 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


ing  its  own  officers  and  managing  its  affairs.1     This  company 
of  men  was  a  large  and  vigorous  body,  including  many  men 


TERRITORY 

GrantedJby  the  Charter  of 
16O9 

CHARTER  GRANTED  "ALL  THAT  SPACE  AND 
CIRCUIT  OF  LAND  LYING  FROM  THE  SEA 
COAST  UP  INTO  THE  LAND  FROM  SEA  TO 
SEA,  WEST  AND  NORTHWEST"ALSO  ISLANDS 
WITHIN  TOO  MILES  OF  THE  COAST. 


of  means  and  distinction;  they  were  determined  to  make  a 
success  of  colonization,  and  they  set  energetically  to  work. 

1  By  the  charter  of  1609,  the  line  of  the  corporation's  lands  on  the  east 
was  to  run  along  the  coast,  two  hundred  miles  on  each  side  of  Point  Com 
fort,  and  the  grant  included  "all  that  Space  and  Circuit  of  Land  lying  from 
the  Sea-Coast  of  the  province  aforesaid,  up  into  the  Land,  throughout  from 
Sea  to  Sea  West  and  Northwest"  and  islands  within  one  hundred  miles  of 
the  coast. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700  31 

By  the  old  arrangement  affairs  in  the  colony  had  been  in  the 
hands  of  a  council,  and  its  members  wrangled  and  disputed 
while  things  went  to  ruin.  The  new  company  sent  out  a  gov 
ernor  with  supreme  authority,  and  under  the  stern,  hard  rule 
of  a  masterful  man  the  work  went  on;  the  colony  lived — 
lived,  it  is  true,  a  hard  life  and  a  dreary  one;  but  it  lived.1 

In  the  course  of  a  few  years,  some  five  or  six  after  the  grant 
ing  of  the  charter,  the  little  settlement  came  to  have  a  lasting 
look.    Tobacco  began  to  be  raised  and  shipped  to 
England;  the  colonists  finding  that  they  could  do 
something  more  than  hunt  for  treasure  or  long  for  home,  began 
to  plant  the  valuable  weed  everywhere,  till  "the  market  place, 


FROM  CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH'S  GENERALL  HISTORIE 

street,  and  other  spare  places"  were  filled  with  growing  crops. 
The  industrial  history  of  Virginia  was  begun;  and  when  men 


1  Read  especially  Eggleston,  Beginners  of  a  Nation,  pp.  45-48.  Dela 
ware,  who  lived  in  England,  was  the  nominal  governor,  but  the  colony  was 
in  Dale's  hands.  At  this  time  the  practice  of  bringing  all  products  to  a 
"common  store"  was  abandoned  in  part;  the  old  planters  were  given  gar 
den  patches.  The  communal  system  had  tempted  men  to  be  lazy,  in  hope 
of  eating  the  bread  that  other  men  had  earned.  Men  now  worked  in  the 
prospect  of  enjoying  the  fruit  of  their  toil. 

George  Yeardley,  a  "mild  and  temperate"  man,  ruled  for  a  time.     He 
was  followed  by  Argall,  whom  Cooke  calls  a  "human  hawk,  peering  about 
in  search  of  some  prey  to  pounce  on".    In  1619  Yeardley  returned, 
j. 


32  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

were  given  land  of  their  own  and  the  right  to  till  it  for  them 
selves,  little  plantations  appeared  here  and  there;  the  people 
began  reaching  out  into  the  forbidding  wilderness.  The  people 
of  England  wanted  tobacco,  and  smoking  was  indulged  in 
despite  the  outcry  of  worthy  King  James,  who  published  his 
''Counterblast  to  Tobacco",  and  declared  that  it  was  the 
"greatest  sin"  that  a  man  "could  not  walk  the  journey  of  a 
Jew's  Sabbath  without  having  a  coal  brought  him  from  the 
nearest  pot-house"  to  kindle  his  tobacco  with.  The  colony 
on  the  basis  of  its  new  industry  went  on,  and  before  1620 
there  were  various  little  outlying  settlements  along  the  rivers 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Jamestown.  A  few  negro  slaves,  the 
first  coming  in  1619,  and  a  number  of  white  servants  who  were 
bound  to  a  term  of  service  in  the  colony,  furnished  the  labor 
for  the  plantation  system  which  was  beginning  to  spread  its  net 
over  the  land  of  Virginia.1 

While  the  colony  was  slowly  but  steadily  building  up,  the 

company  in  England  decided  upon  a  great  change.     There 

Were    differing    elements   in    the    company,    and 

Liberal  men       by  this  time  (i6i8)  its  management  was  controlled 

witn  liberal  *  '  ••'•-•.AVI  11 

ideas.  by  a  number  of  enterprising,  able   men,  deeply 

interested  in  colonization  and  deeply  interested 
too  in  broad  and  liberal  ideas  of  government  and  of  human 
rights;  Chief '  among  them  were  Sir  Edwin  Sandys  and  the 
Earl  of  Southampton,  belonging  to  that  class  of  free- 
minded  men  who  were  growing  restless  under  the  high-handed 
rule  of '  the  first  Stuart.2  .From  them  came  the  purpose  to 

1  In  1619  there  came  to  the  land  of  Virginia,  says  John  Rolfe,"  a  Dutch 
manne-of-war,  that  sold  us  twenty  negars".     The  negro  element  in  Vir 
ginia  was  for-  many  years  a  small  one.    The  white  servitude  will  be  explained 
later.     In  the  early  years  of  the  colony  men  or  boys  were  sometimes  seized 
in  England,  and  shipped  to  the  colony  and  there  sold  into  servitude  for  a 
term  of  years.    Others  by  one  arrangement  or  another  were  induced  to  go. 
How  long  this  process  of  "spiriting"  or  kidnapping  continued  may  be  seen 
from  reading  Stevenson's  Kidnapped  the, scene  of  which  is  laid  near  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  . 

2  Sandys  was  honored  by  the  hatred  of  King  James.    When  the  king 
tried  to  irtterfere  with  the  election  by  the  company  of  theit>own  officer,  the 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700  33 

establish  freer  institutions  in  Virginia,  to  do  away  with  the 
absolute  power  of  the  governor  and  give  the  colonists  a  share  in 
their  own  government. 

In  1619  Governor  Yeardley  appeared  in  Virginia  with 
"instructions  from  the  Company  for  the  better  establish- 
The  first  "^  °^  a  commonwea^h"-1  He  proclaimed  that 

Assembly  in  "the  cruell  lawes,  by  which  the  ancient  planters 
America,  July,  have  see  longe  been  governed",  were  now  ab 
rogated,  and  that  they  were  to  be  governed  "by 
those  free  lawes  which  his  majesties  subjectes  lived  under  in 
Englande.  .  .  .  That  the  planters  might  have  a  hande  in  the 
governing  of  themselves,  yt  was  granted  that  a  generall  as- 
semblie  shoulde  be  held  yearly  once,  whereat  were  to  be  present 
the  governor  and  counsell  with  two  Burgesses  from  each  planta 
tion  freely  to  be  elected  by  the  inhabitantes  thereof,  this  As- 
semblie  to  have  power  to  make  and  ordaine  whatsoever 
lawes  and  orders  should  by  them  be  thought  good  and  profit 
able  for  our  subsistence".2  In  conformity  with  this  notice,  an 
assembly  was  held  in  the  little  church  at  Jamestown  in  this 
same  year.  With  the  wonderful  English  instinct  for  govern 
ment  and  organization,  the  representatives  of  this  little  com 
munity  in  the  wilderness  of  Virginia  entered  upon  the  duties 

head  of  the  company  in  England,  and  when  the  company  objected,  James 
cried,  "Choose  the  Devil  if  you  will  but  not  Sir  Edwin  Sandys!"  South 
ampton,  friend  and  patron  of  Shakespeare,  is  thought  by  some  critics  to  be 
the  "W.  H."  whom  the  poet  addresses  in  his  beautiful  sonnets.  To  him 
some  of  Shakespeare's  poems  are  dedicated.  "Should  the  plantation  go  on 
increasing  as  under  the  government  of  that  popular  Lord  Southampton", 
said  the  Spanish  ambassador,  "my  master's  West  Indies  and  his  Mexico 
will  shortly  be  visited,  bv  sea  and  land,  from  those  planters  in  Virginia ''. 

1  The  general  situation  and  the  meaning  of  this  should  be  seen  clearh. 
We  should  remember  that  the  charter  of  1612  was  granted  to  a  corporation 
resident  in  England;  this  corporation  sent  out  the  governor,  and  from 
England  the  general  affairs  of  the  colony  were  managed.     The  company 
decided  to  give  the  people  something  to  say,  and  granted  them  the  right  to 
hold  the  assembly.     The  beginning  of  representative  government,   the 
coming  in  of  the  principles  of  self-government,  is  a  momentous  fact  in  our 
history,  even  if  the  right  was  given  by  a  few  men  in  an  English  corporation 
to  a  few  men  in  the  wilds  of  Virginia. 

2  These  words  are  from  the  " brief e  declaration"  written  somewhat  later 


34 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


and  privileges  of  their  office  with  a  zest  and  an  aptitude  that 
augured  ill  for  tyrannical  rule  and  pointed  to  the  development 
of  a  self-ruling  democracy  in  the  New  World.1 

But  now,  though  the  Virginia  people  were  given  new  rights, 
and  the  colony  was  seemingly  firmly  fixed,  the  affairs  of  the 

Company  were  far  from  rosy.  An  Indian  uprising 
loses  ^charter.  (I^)22)  threatened  the  very  existence  of  the  colony 

before  the  savages  were  beaten,  and  enemies  of 
the  Company  in  England  pointed  to  "the  great  massacre" 
to  show  that  the  colony  was  ill-managed  and  the  whole 


AN  INDIAN  PALISADED  VILLAGE 

thing  a  failure.  The  Company  was  torn  by  factions  and 
London  resounded  with  their  "babbling"  and  debates.  The 
meetings  of  the  members  were  more  like  cock  pits,  it  was 
said,,  than  orderly  business  meetings,  and  King  James  grew 
daily  more  impatient  with  the  liberal-minded  men  like  Sandys, 
who  liked  him  no  better  than  he  did  them.  The  Virginia  courts,2 

1  Interesting  accounts  of  this  first  Assembly  will  be  found  in  Bancroft's 
History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  i,  p.  1 11-119;  Cooke's  Virginia,  chap.  xix. 
Bancroft  says:  "From  the  moment  of  Yeardley's  arrival  dates  the  real  life 
of  Virginia".   \Vhen  at  a  later  day  the  colonists  feared  that  they  would  lose 
their  new-found  rights,  the  Virginia  Assembly  asked  the  king  to  send  over 
commissioners  to  hang  them  rather  than  establish  the  old  tyranny. 

2  The  meeting  of  the  members  of  a  corporation  was  called  a  court. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700  35 

whispered  the  Spanish  minister  to  James,  "are  but  a  seminary 
to  a  seditious  Parliament".  The  uneasy  monarch  made  up  his 
mind  to  put  a  stop  to  the  whole  turmoil  and  to  wipe  out  the 
Company.  An  excuse  was  readily  found,  and  the  necessary  legal 
steps  were  taken  to  revoke  the  charter.  Virginia  then  became 
a  royal  colony  (1624). 

The  attack  upon  the  Company  was  an  act  of  petty  tyranny, 

but  in  the  long  run  it  was  better  that  the  colony  should  be 

under  the  King  than  subject  to  the  whim  of  a 

Results.  .    .  *     .        T  - 

commercial  company.  Charles  1,  coming  to  trie 
throne  in  1625,  had  enough  to  do  at  home  seeking  to  rule 
according  to  his  own  sweet  will,  and  soon  had  more  than  he 
could  do  in  trying  to  save  his  throne  and  his  head.  The  people 
in  America  were  therefore  allowed,  without  much  interfer 
ence,  to  develop  their  own  institutions  and  to  become  prac 
ticed  in  the  management  of  their  own  interests. 

Virginia  was  now  a  royal  colony,  directly  under  the  crown; 
but  the  assembly,  which  had  been  established  by  the  Company, 

was  recognized  and  continued  to  exist.     A  gov- 

Royal  Colony.  . 

ernor  was  sent  over  to  represent  the  king  and 
with  him  acted  a  council  made  up  of  colonists  appointed 
by  the  king,  which  had  a  share  in  the  business  of  government. 
And  thus  the  form  of  royal  colony  government  came  into 
existence;  it  gradually  took  shape *in  the  first  two  decades 
or  so  after  the  dissolution  of  the  company.1 

To  us  the  history  of  Virginia  in  the  last  three  quarters  of 
the  seventeenth  century  is  chiefly  interesting  because  during 

1  The  form  of  government  is  of  interest  to  us  because  it  became  the  form 
of  most  of  the  colonial  governments  and  because  the  governments  within  the 
colonies  were  the  forerunners  of  our  state  governments.  The  governor  acted 
under  instructions,  a  long  list  of  directions,  given  him  by  the  English  govern 
ment.  He  had  the  right  to  do  many  things  and  was  the  chief  executive  officer 
in  the  colony.  The  council  acted  with  the  governor  as  a  court  in  important 
cases,  and  was  a  part  of  the  legislature — of  the  assembly  in  Virginia — the 
forerunner  of  the  Senate  in  our  state  government  to-day.  The  Burgesses 
in  Virginia  sat  with  the  Council  as  one  chamber  till  about  1680,  when  they 
became  a  separate  house.  The  Burgesses  or  representatives  were  elected 
by  the  people  and  with  the  Council  made  laws,  especially  clinging  to  the 
right  of  taxation  and  after  a  time  of  appropriating  money. 


36  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

those  years  the  industrial  and  social  character  of  the  colony 

was  established;  habits  of  work  and  of  living   were  forming 

that   lasted  with   no    great  change  until  long  after  America 

was  separated  from  England   and   Virginia  had 

The  plantation.     , 

become  a  state.  We  are  interested  above  all 
in  how  Virginia  became  a  commonwealth  of  planters,  many  of 
them  with  vast  estates,  which  were  tilled  by  white  servants 
and,  more  and  more  as  the  years  went  on,  by  gangs  of  blacks, 
raising  great  quantities  of  tobacco  to  be  shipped  to  Europe  on 
the  ocean-going  vessels  that  found  their  way  up  the  great 
arms  of  the  sea  or  up  along  the  rivers  with  which  the  common 
wealth  is  threaded.  Very  early,  as  we  have  seen,  plantations 
for  tobacco  raising  were  made,  here  and  there  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Jamestown.  As  the  population  grew  and  as  fear  of 
the  Indians  began  to  disappear,  the  planters  pushed  on  and 
out  into  the  back  country,  clearing  the  land  and  raising  to 
bacco;  and  yearly  the  plantations  became  bigger  as  men  of 
means  came  into  the  colony  and  took  up  the  land.  That  was 
the  work  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  establishment  of 
the  big  plantation  system. 

Much  has  been  said  in  history  about  the  coming  of  the 
"Cavalier"  to  the  wilds  of  Virginia,  and  probably  we  have  a 
mistaken  idea  if  we  have  supposed  that  Virginia 
was  settled  by  men  different  in  birth  and  different  in 


blood  from  those  that  formed  the  backbone  of  New 
England  in  early  days.  Certain  it  is,  however,  that  in  the  mid 
dle  of  the  century  there  were  some  "distressed  cavaliers"  that 
fled  in  disgust  from  the  England  that  was  in  the  grasp  of 
the  "Roundheads".  When  Charles  was  beheaded,  Virginia 
remained  stoutly  loyal  to  the  house  of  Stuart  and  only  with 
reluctance  and  under  pressure  acknowledged  the  rule  of  Parlia 
ment.1  The  loyalty  of  Virginia,  the  "Old  Dominion"  as  it 

1  A  review  by  the  reader  of  the  main  facts  of  English  history  in  the  seven 
teenth  century  is  very  desirable.  Charles  I  came  to  the  throne  in  1625. 
There  were  troubles  almost  immediately.  In  1642  the  "Great  Rebellion" 
began;  Charles  was  beaten,  and  in  1649  was  beheaded.  The  "Common 
wealth  "  period,  during  most  of  which  Oliver  Cromwell  was  the  real  ruler  of 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700  37 

came  to  be  called,  may  have  had  much  effect  in  bringing 
men  of  means;  but,  whether  that  be  true  or  not,  it  is  plain 
that  such  men  came;  the  big  plantations  grew  in  numbers  and 
in  size;  the  "aristocratic"  planter  was  the  leading  figure  in  the 
life  and  government  of  the  colony.1 

The  government  of  Virginia  was  not  altogether  fine  and 
honest  in  the  days  of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the  plant 
er  was  getting  a  firm  hold   on   colonial  life   and 
rebellion  industry.    There  was  a  good  deal  of  political  cor 

ruption  in  the  days  after  the  Restoration,  and 
William  Berkeley,  the  gov 
ernor,  wras  an  imperious  man, 
who  was  "peevish  and  brit 
tle"  and  would  rail  at  any 
common  man  who  asked  a 
favor,  as  if  to  be  governor 
of  Virginia  meant  license  to 
call  everybody  hard  names.2 
The  body  of  favorites  that 
gathered  around  him  were 
greedy  and  had  no  taste  for  INDIAN  TREATY  BELT  OF  WAMPUM 
considering  the  rights  of  the 

poorer  planter  or  woodsman.  The  Indians  on  the  frontier  who 
were  a  source  of  trouble  for  years  did  not  molest  the  planters 

England,  lasted  till  1660,  when  Charles  II  came  to  the  throne,  the  "Res 
toration". 

1  The  picture  of  Virginia  as  it  grew  to  be  is  a  very  important  one  for  us. 
Tobacco,  tobacco,  everywhere  tobacco.    The  fertile  soil,  the  broad  rivers, 
the  mild  climate,  all  tempted  men  to  raise  tobacco;  and  men  scattered,  not 
in  little  groups  or  bunches  of  men  as  in  New  England,  but  up  the  rivers, 
and  along  the  "branches"  that  would  float  a  boat  to  carry  tobacco,  the 
individual  planter  made  his  way.     He  went  on  into  the  "back  country", 
perhaps  to  make  a  little  home  for  himself  and  family,  often  to  make  a  great 
estate  in  course  of  time,  where  bands  of  laborers  tended  the  tobacco  plant. 

2  One  man  who  had  approached  the  Governor  was  asked  how  he  was 
treated.    "He  was  brittle  and  peevish",  was  the  answer,  "and  I  could  get 
nothing  fastened  on  him".    He  was  then  asked  if  the  Governor  called  him 
a  dog  or  a  rogue  and  he  said,  "No".    "Then",  said  the  questioner,  "you 
took  him  in  the  best  of  humor". 


38  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

of  the  older  region,  and  the  governor  refused  to  do  anything  to 
protect  the  backwoods  settlements.  Then  came  rebellion  (1676). 
Nathaniel  Bacon  with  a  band  of  men  whom  their  enemies  called 
"the  scum  of  the  country"  whipped  the  Indians  and  threatened 
the  hold  of  the  "brittle"  old  governor  on  the  colony.  But 
the  rebellion  failed,  Bacon  died,  and  Berkeley  took  a  gruesome 
vengeance,  till  Charles  in  England  cried  out,  "That  old  fool 
has  hanged  more  men  in  that  naked  country  than  I  did  here 
for  the  murder  of  my  father!" 

The  rebellion  was,  in  part  no  doubt,  a  protest  against  Berke 
ley's  rule;  it  was  in  part  a  protes.t  against  the  extravagance 
and  wastefulness  of  the  Assembly,  then  made  up  of  favorites 
of  the  governor  and  of  the  richer  planters;  but  the  failure  of  the 
uprising  marks  the  fact  that  government  and  social  order  were 
now  in  the  hands  of  the  planter  class,  especially  those  of  the 
old  tide-water  region.  This  does  not  mean  that,  in  the  decades 
to  come,  the  power  of  the  governor  and  crown  increased  and 
that  there  was  no  development  of  the  principle  and  practice 
of  self-government.  On  the  contrary,  the  average  planter  was 
a  vigorous  sort  of  person,  proud  of  his  own  privileges  and  well 
prepared  to  defend  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  colonists. 
There  grew  up  in  Virginia  among  these  great  landowners  men 
of  ability,  valor  and  strength,  with  a  keen  sense  of  what  political 
liberty  meant; l  and  when  the  darker  days  of  the  eighteenth 
century  came  on,  and  when  England  threatened  to  tax  and  to 
rule  as  she  had  not  done  before,  the  planters  were  ready  to  do 
their  part.2 

1  There  were  open  differences  between  the  men  of  the  old  tide-water 
region  and  the  up-country  men,  and  as  the  Revolution  came  on  the  Amer 
ican  movement  was  in  considerable  degree  led  by  the  latter  class.    But  on 
the  whole,  planter,  woodsman  and  newer  planter,  all  knew  how  to  de 
fend  Virginia's  liberties.    Virginia  life  of  the  eighteenth  century  will  always 
remain  of  interest  and  importance.    It  produced  in  a  few  years  an  unusuai 
number  of  great  men, — Washington,  Marshall,  Jefferson,  Henry,  Mason 
and  others. 

2  Of  industrial  and  social  conditions  at   the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century  no  better  statement  can  be  made  than  in  a  report  made  by  Govern 
or  Berkeley,  and  we  may  well  leave  Virginia  with  some  of  his  words  in  our 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700  39 

REFERENCES 

Short  accounts:  THWAITES,  The  Colonies,  pp.  36-44,  64-78; 
FISHER,  The  Colonial  Era,  pp.  23-62;  LODGE,  Short  History  of  the  Eng 
lish  Colonies  in  America,  pp.  1-25.  Longer  accounts:  BANCROFT, 
History, Volume  I,  pp.  60-152,  442-474;  COOKE,  Virginia,  pp.  1-331; 
HILDRETH,  History  of  the  United  States,  Volume  I,  pp.  76-96,  99-135, 
335-353>  5°9~5655  WINSOR,  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  Volume 
III,  Chapters  II,  IV,  V.  For  the  beginnings  of  Virginia,  read 
especially  EGGLESTON,  The  Beginners  of  a  Nation,  pp.  1-98,  a  very 
charming  and  entertaining  book;  FISKE,  Old  Virginia  and  Her 
Neighbors,  Volume  I,  especially  Chapters  II  to  IV;  TYLER,  England 
in  America.  Full  and  interesting  narrative  in  CHANNING,  History  of 
the  United  States,  Volume  I,  Chapters  V-VIII; .  Volume  II, 
Chapter  III. 


MARYLAND — 1 63  2-1 700 

Among  the  most  noticeable  features  of  American  life  at 
the  present  day  are  the  entire  absence  of  connection  between 

church  and  state  and  the  complete  toleration 
toleration.  °^  a^  forms  of  religious  belief.  Our  national 

Constitution  provides  that  Congress  "shall  make 
no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion  or  prohibiting 
the  free  exercise  thereof".  The  State  Constitutions  contain 
similar  provisions,  and  men  now  quite  generally  assert  that  in- 

minds:  "Commodities  of  the  growth  of  our  country,  we  never  had  any  but 
tobacco,  which  in  this  yet  is  considerable  that  it  yields  his  Majesty  a  great 
revenue.  .  .  .  Now,  for  shipping,  we  have  admirable  masts  and  very  good 
oaks;  but  for  iron  ore,  I  dare  not  say  there  is  sufficient  to  keep  one  iron  mill 
going  for  seven  years.  .  .  .  We  suppose  .  .  .  that  there  is  in  Virginia  above 
forty  thousand  persons,  men,  women,  and  children,  and  of  which  there  are 
two  thousand  black  slaves,  six  thousand  Christian  servants,  for  a  short  time, 
the  rest  are  born  in  the  country  or  have  come  in  to  settle  and  seat,  in  better 
ing  their  condition  in  a  growing  country.  .  .  .  English  ships,  near  eighty 
come  out  of  England  and  Ireland  every  year  for  tobacco;  few  New  England 
ketches;  but  of  our  own  we  never  yet  had  more  than  two  at  one  time,  and 
those  not  more  than  twenty  tons  burthen.  .  .  .  We  have  fforty-eight  par 
ishes,  and  our  ministers  are  well  paid,  and  by  my  consent  should  be  better 
if  they  would  pray  oftener  and  preach  less.  But  of  all  other  commodities,  so 
of  this  the  worst  are  sent  us.  ...  But,  I  thank  God,  there  are  no  free 
schools,  nor  printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  these  hundred  years". 


40  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

tolerance  is  foolish  and  wrong.  But  this  broad  and  tolerant 
spirit  has  been  of  slow  growth.  In  the  seventeenth  century, 
when  America  was  settled,  the  great  mass  of  men  did  not  believe 
in  toleration.  Even  in  England,  which  was  in  some  respects, 
perhaps,  more  advanced  than  were  most  of  the  countries  of 
continental  Europe,  there  were  severe  laws  providing  for  the 
punishment  of  those  that  did  not  accept  the  faith  of  the  Es- 


MARYLAND 

The  outer  dotted  line  shows  the  original  boundary  and  the  inner  line  shows 

the  boundary  agreed  upon  with  Pennsylvania  in  1767.    The 

southern  line  of  Pennsylvania  is  Mason  and  Dixon's  line. 

tablished  Church  or  did  not  conform  to  the  prescribed  modes 
of  worship.  Many  of  the  settlers  in  America  were  fugitives 
from  the  persecutions  of  the  Old  World;  and  yet  in  many  of  the 
colonies  throughout  the  whole  colonial  period  a  spirit  of  in 
tolerance  prevailed.  This  continent  received  in  its  early  days 
men  of  many  and  diverse  faiths;  and  in  the  free  air  of  the  New 
World,  where  free  thinking  and  free  acting  were  encouraged, 
people  gradually  came  to  respect  their  neighbor's  sincere  faith, 
even  though  it  differed  from  their  own. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700  41 

In  the  light  of  these  facts,  we  are  interested  in  the  early 

history  of  Maryland,  where  for  some  years  Protestants  and 

Roman  Catholics   lived   together    in  peace,   and 

The  Calverts.  ,  -  .  ,  •       •    i  r  V    i 

where,  for  a  time  at  least,  the  principles  of  toler 
ance  were  carried  into  practice.  The  founders  of  the  colony 
were  George  and  Cecilius  Calvert.  The  former,  the  first  Lord 
Baltimore,  was  a  man  of  distinction  in  England,  in  the  time  of 
James  I.  In  those  days  there  were  strict  laws  against  the 
Catholics,1  but  Baltimore  adopted  the  faith,  resigned  his  of 
fice,  and  turned  his  attention  to  founding  a  colony  in  America. 
We  don't  know  just  what  his  purposes  were,  probably  not  to 
found  a  colony  which  was  purely  Roman  Catholic,  but  cer 
tainly  to  found  one  to  which  members  of  his  faith  could  go  with 
hope  to  live  in  peace.  He  obtained  a  charter  granting  him  land 
on  either  side  of  Chesapeake  Bay;  but  before  the  charter  was 
actually  issued  he  died  and  his  plan  for  colonization  passed  to 
his  son  Cecilius. 

We  have  seen  that  Virginia  in  early  days  was  in  the  hands 
of  a  corporation  (1609-1624);   the  Calvert  charter  on  the  other 

hand  gave  land  and  power  to  one  man  ;  to  him  was 
a  t>t         given  the  right  of  government ;  he  was  the  lord  and 

ruler  of  the  people.  The  colony  was  called  a  palati 
nate,2  and  that  meant  that  the  lord  of  the  province,  owing  allegi 
ance  to  the  king,  and  bearing  the  same  relation  to  him  as  did  any 
one  of  the  great  feudal  lords  that  had  acquired  power  and  au 
thority  in  the  middle  ages,  had  vast  power  as  feudal  overlord 
over  the  men  that  went  to  settle  in  the  wilds  of  America.  It  is 
a  strange  and  interesting  fact,  this  attempting  to  use  the  old 
feudal  system  as  a  basis  for  American  settlement,  this  attempt- 

1  In  the  reign  of  James,  before  1618,  twenty-four  Catholics  are  said  to 
have  been  punished  with  death.    Baltimore,  however,  was  not  molested, 
but  on  the  contrary  was  favored  by  the  king. 

2  A  palatinate  is  in  itself  a  little  kingdom,  in  which  the  lord  palatine, 
though  owing  allegiance  to  the  king,  has  regal  power  as  fully  as  the  king  in 
his  palace.    There  were  several  of  them  in  England  at  one  time,  and  the 
palatinate  of  Maryland  was  modeled  after  the  palatinate  of  Durham.     The 
palatinates  of  England,  like  those  established  by  Charlemagne,  were  on 
the  borders  of  the  realm. 


42  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

ing  to  furbish  up  a  dead  or  dying  scheme  and  use  it  for  plant 
ing  and  peopling  a  wilderness  on  the  borders  of  the  empire. 
Though  great  power  was  given  the  proprietor  by  this  charter, 
there  was  one  essential  thing  in  it,  which  served  in  a  few  years 
to  make  the  new  colony  more  than  a  feudal  estate.  He  was  the 
law-making  power,  but  the  laws  were  to  be  made  with  the  ad 
vice  and  consent  of  the  freemen.  If  the  freemen  were  assertive, 
self-reliant  Englishmen,  if  they  had  the  sense  of  freedom,  which 
the  air  of  the  American  woods  produced,  they  would  not  long 
remain  mere  vassals  of  a  lord  who  lived  in  England  and  made 
money  out  of  their  tobacco. 

Two  vessels,  the  Ark  and  the  Dove,  bearing  both  Catholic 

and  Protestant  colonists,  reached  the  Potomac  in   1634.     A 

settlement  was  made  at  St.  Mary's  and  the  colony 

Free  government  begun.    The  government  was  at  first  in  the  hands 

gradually  estab-        6 

lished.  of  a  governor  and  council  appointed  by  the  proprie 

tor.  As  laws  could  not  be  made  without  consent  of 
the  freemen  of  the  colony,  a  meeting  was  held  within  a  year.  Such 
a  gathering  was  unwieldy  and  inconvenient  and  so,  two  or 
three  years  later,  some  of  the  settlers  sent  proxies  to  vote  for 
them,  and  soon  after  this  a  regular  representative  system  was 
set  up.  Moreover,  the  people  were  not  content  with  merely 
ratifying  the  laws  sent  over  by  Baltimore,  and  they  demanded 
the  right  to  make  laws  themselves.  When  this  was  granted, 
as  it  was,  by  the  lord  proprietor,  the  colonists  had  a  big  share 
in  their  own  government;  it  did  not  take  many  years  of  Amer 
ican  life  to  rub  off  a  good  deal  of  the  old-fashioned  feudalism. 
Year  by  year,  and  decade  by  decade,  the  colonial  assembly 
took  new  powers  to  itself;1  wresting  one  power  after  another 
from  the  hands  of  the  proprietor  or  his  governor. 


1  The  government  of  Maryland  as  it  developed  in  the  seventeenth  cen 
tury  was  not  unlike  that  of  her  southern  neighbor.  There  were  a  governor, 
appointed  by  the  proprietor,  a  council,  also  approved  by  the  proprietor, 
which  advised  with  the  governor  and  had  its  share  in  legislation,  and  the 
body  of  elected  representatives  who  with  the  council  had  the  law-making 
power.  But,  of  course,  Maryland  was  under  the  proprietor,  not  immedi 
ately  under  the  King. 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700  43 

Though  there  was  no  law  prescribing  toleration  and  no  pres 
sure  on  the  colony  save  the  evident  wish  of  the  proprietor  and 
his  interests,  Catholics  and  Protestants  lived  to- 

The  Toleration     gg^er    jn    earjy    years    Without    SCHOUS    disputes. 

In  1649  it  seemed  wise  to  provide  for  religious 
freedom  by  positive  enactment,  and  in  consequence  the  famous 
Toleration  Act  was  placed  upon  the  statute  books.  "And  whereas 
the  enforcing  of  the  conscience  in  matters  of  religion  hath  fre 
quently  fallen  out  to  be  of  dangerous  consequence  in  those 
commonwealths  where  it  hath  been  practiced,  and  for  the  more 
quiet  and  peaceable  government  of  this  province,  and  the  bet 
ter  to  preserve  mutual  love  and  amity  among  the  inhabitants, 
no  person  within  this  province  professing  to  believe  in  Jesus 
Christ  shall  be  in  any  ways  troubled,  molested,  or  discounte 
nanced,  for  his  or  her  religion,  or  in  the  free  exercise  thereof". 
The  council  and  assembly  that  passed  this  act  were  composed 
of  Catholics  and  Protestants,  and  it  was  an  event  of  no  small 
importance  in  the  history  of  mankind  when  adherents  of  these 
two  faiths  could  thus  amicably  agree  to  live  together  and 
respect  each  other's  beliefs,  even  if  it  were  in  a  corner  of  the 
New  World. 

For  some  years  there  was  on  the  whole  a  spirit  of  tolerance 
and  good  fellowship.  "Here",  wrote  a  colonist  in  1666,  "the 

Roman  Catholick  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
The  English  (whom  the  world  would  perswade  have  proclaimed 

Church  .  ui  •  i,       4.1,      \ 

established.  open  wars  irrevocably  against  each  other)  con- 
trarywise  concur  in  an  unanimous  parallel  of 
friendship  and  inseparable  love  intayled  unto  one  another". 
But  this  sweet  "parallel  of  friendship"  unfortunately  did  not 
last.  Toward  the  end  of  the  century  the  English  church 
was  established  in  the  province ;  and  strict  laws  were  passed 
against  those  who  did  not  conform;1  everybody,  no  matter 

1  In  1702  Protestant  dissenters  and  Quakers  were  exempted  from  pen 
alty  for  non-conforming,  and  were  allowed  to  have  their  own  meeting 
houses,  provided  they  gave  their  forty  pounds  of  tobacco  each  to  support 
the  established  church.  But  there  was  on  the  face  of  the  law  no  toleration 
of  Catholics.  Thus  the  early  example  of  toleration  was  for  a  time  lost 
sight  of. 


44  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

what    his    faith,    was    taxed    to     support     the     established 
church. 

After  the  Revolution  of  1688  in  England,  when  William  and 
Mary  came  to  the  throne,  the  proprietor  of  Maryland  was 
deprived  of  the  right  to  govern  the  province. 
l  Early  in  the  next  century,  however,  Benedict 
Leonard,  the  fourth  Lord  Calvert,  having  re 
nounced  the  Catholic  faith,  was  given  his  rights  again  (1715) 
and  henceforward,  till  Maryland  became  a  state,  it  remained 
a  proprietary  colony. 

Maryland,  like  Virginia,  was  a  colony  of  planters;  here  as 
in  the  colony  across  the  Potomac  were  the  big  plantation,  the  to 
bacco  crop,  the  wide  stretches  of  forest.  Men  lived  in 

Plantations. 

the  country,  not  in  towns,  and,  if  they  were  wealthy, 
had  stately  mansions  and  lived  with  some  degree  of  luxury. 
The  vessels  from  the  old  country  sailed  up  the  bays  and  rivers 
to  be  loaded  from  the  plantations  with  tobacco  or  to  bring 
the  manufactured  wares  from  England  to  the  planter's  door. 


THE    CAROLINAS — 1663-1700 

Not  until  after  Virginia  and  Maryland  had  passed  through 
all  the  early  experiences  of  settlement,  and  not  until  after 
rhe  charter  strong  and  vigorous  colonies  had  been  made  on 
the  northeastern  coast,  were  serious  efforts  made 
to  take  possession  of  the  region  south  of  Virginia.  In  the  time 
of  Charles  II  there  came  a  burst  of  colonizing  interest  and  energy, 
and  soon  after  his  coming  to  the  throne  he  gave  (1663)  to  eight 
of  his  favorites  a  grant  of  land.  Two  years  later,  by  a  new 
charter,  the  boundaries  were  fixed  at  parallel  36°  30'  on  the 
north  and  29°  on  the  south — a  vast  principality  stretching 
westward  across  the  continent.  These  men  were  then  made 
the  "true  and  absolute  lords  proprietors  of  the  country"; 
ind  they  were  granted  "full  and  absolute  power"  to  make 
laws  according  "to  their  best  discretion  .  .  .  with  the  advice, 
assent  and  approbation  of  the  freemen".  To  grant  this  ab 
solute  power  and  then  to  couple  it  with  the  provision  requiring 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700 


GRANT  OF  THE  CAROLINAS 


popular  assent  was  like  telling  a  man  to  run  as  fast  as  he  wishes, 
provided  he  keep  a  ball  and  chain  fastened  to  his  legs. 

The  proprietors  of  this  new  dominion  were  among  the  most 
important   men    in   Eng 
land.       The 

The  Proprietors.  Duke   Qf   ^ 

bemarle  was  that  Gen 
eral  Monk  by  whose  in 
strumentality  Charles 
had  been  brought  back 
to  the  throne  of  his 
fathers.  The  Earl  of 
Clarendon  had  been  a 
most  faithful  friend  in 
the  days  of  exile.  An 
thony,  Lord  Ashley,  after 
ward  Earl  of  Shaftesbury, 
held  at  that  time  high 
official  position,  and  was 
considered  the  most  astute  politician  in  the  kingdom.  He 
is  the  original  of  Achitophel  in  Dryden's  famous  satire. 

Before  the  proprietors  took  steps  to  colonize  Carolina, 
settlements  had  already  been  made  within  the  limits  of  their 
grant.  Some  Virginians  had  settled  on  the  Chowan  River. 
This  became  a  permanent  settlement,  and  was  the  beginning 
of  North  Carolina.  Somewhat  later  colonists  were  sent  over 
under  the  auspices  of  the  proprietors.  They  first  settled  on 
the  west  shore  of  the  Ashley  River  (1670),  but  in.  a  few  years 
moved  to  the  present  site  of  Charleston.  This 
was  the  beginning  of  South  Carolina.  For  a  time 
these  two  settlements  had  the  same  governor,  but 
in  political  and  social  life  they  were  different.  Each  had  its 
own  character. 

When  the  proprietors  entered  earnestly  on  the  task  of  col 
onization,  they  undertook  to  provide  a  model  government  for 
their  tenants.  The  few  people  that  were  already  on  the 
ground  were  getting  on  very  well  without  an  elaborate  con- 


First 
settlement. 


46  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

stitution.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  they  were  showing  capacity 
for  creating  institutions  as  they  needed  them,  suited  to  their 
wants.  But  Shaftesbury,  the  leading  spirit  in  the  enterprise, 
entertained  the  hope  that  he  could  avoid  "erect- 
"Gnmd Model".  mg  a  numerous  democracy";  and  so,  with  the 
help  of  his  secretary,  John  Locke,  who  later  be 
came  one  of  England's  most  famous  philosophers  and  writers,  he 
drew  up  a  constitution  for  the  colony.  Now,  even  in  America, 
the  home  of  written  charters  and  fundamental  laws,  the  maxim 
holds  true  that  constitutions  are  not  made,  but  grow.  The  one 
thing  that  was  quite  impossible  under  this  plan- was  growth. 
The  country,  wild  as  it  was  and  almost  uninhabited,  was  to 
be  divided  up  with  mathematical  accuracy,  and  the  feudal 
system  in  an  exaggerated  form  was  to  be  foisted  upon  the 
people.  Various  grades  of  society  were  established — proprie 
tors  and  landgraves,  and  caciques  and  leetmen — and  it  was 
solemnly  declared  that  "all  the  children  of  leetmen  shall  be 
leetmen,  and  so  to  all  generations".1  This  document,  known 
as  the  "Fundamental  Constitutions",  is  often  referred  to  as 
Locke's  "Grand  Model".  It  is  surprising  that  the  clever 
philosopher  and  the  crafty  Shaftesbury  could  together  have 
countenanced  such  folly  under  the  name  of  wisdom.2 

Obedience  to  such  a  law  was  quite  impossible,  and  the 
settlers  were  thus  schooled  by  necessity  to  disregard  the 
Effect  of  the  wishes  of  the  proprietors,  who  had  shown  no 
Model  on  sense  in  appreciating  the  needs  of  their  colonies, 

colonial  life.       The  northern   colony,  rejecting'  this  philosophic 
strait- jacket,  showed  its  disobedience  in  acts  of  lawlessness; 

1  The  charter  provided  that  the  proprietor  could  grant  titles  of  nobil 
ity,  but  that  these  titles  must  be  different  from  any  used  in  England.  Hence 
the  use  of  such  words  as  "landgrave"  and  "cacique".  The  leetmen  were 
tenants  attached  to  the  soil  and  "under  the  jurisdiction  of  their  lord,  with 
out  appeal".  No  wonder  the  "Grand  Model"  is  sometimes  called  "the 
grand  muddle". 

8  No  set  of  smug  favorites  or  crafty  politicians  in  England  could  set  up 
a  supreme  and  absolute  government  in  America  or  rule  it  with  a  free  hand. 
The  people  were  too  far  away;  they  had  lost  too  much  of  their  older  sense  of 
inferiority,  when  they  crossed  the  ocean  and  began  plantations  in  the  wilds 
of  a  far-off  country;  they  felt  too  strongly  their  own  capacity  and  manhood 


THE  SOUTHERN  COLONIES— 1607-1700  47 

the  southern  colony,  a  little  more  peacefully  disobedient,  early 
gave  evidence  of  political  sagacity,  and  carried  out  its  opposi 
tion  in  orderly  method  with  great  deftness  and  skill.  "In 
Carolina",  says  Bancroft,  "the  disputes  of  a  thousand  years 
were  crowded  into  a  generation".  The  spirit  of  independence 
was  early  manifested;  the  people  obtained  an  assembly  and 
entered  into  arguments  and  disputes  with  proprietors  and  gov 
ernors. 

Proprietary  government  lasted  for  some  years,  and  the 
proprietors  with  curious  obstinacy  made  many  attempts  to 
fasten  the  "Grand  Model''  on  the  people,  but 
without  success.  Before  the  end  of  the  century 
both  colonies  increased  in  numbers  and  strength. 
Negro  slavery  was  introduced,  and  plantations  raising  rice 
and  indigo  were  made  here  and  there  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Charleston,  which  ere  long  became  a  thriving  center  for  the 
social  and  political  life  of  the  colony.  Various  elements  were 
added  to  the  population;  French  Huguenots,  Hollanders  and 
Scotch-Irish  found  their  way  thither.  Though  still  weak  in 
1700,  the  Carolinas  were  thrifty  and  prosperous.  The  people 
of  the  southern  colony,  especially,  seemed  well  provided  with 
practical  sense  and  progressive  spirit.  New  England  is  often 
cited  as  an  example  of  England's  grreat  power  as  a  colonizing 
nation.  But  South  Carolina  will  serve  as  well;  she  wished 
no  tender  paternalism  and  felt  quite  capable  of  looking  after 
herself, 

REFERENCES 

Short  accounts:  THWAITES,  The  Colonies,  pp.  87-95;  FISHER,  The 
Colonial  Era,  Chapter  VI.  Longer  accounts:  BRYANT  and  GAY, 
Popular  History,  Volume  II,  pp.  268-290,  355-373;  DOYLE,  The  Eng 
lish  in  America,  The  Southern  Colonies,  Chapter  XII;  WINSOR,  Nar 
rative  and  Critical  History,  Volume  V,  Chapter  V;  BANCROFT,  History, 
Volume  I,  pp.  408-436,  Volume  II,  pp.  10-16;  HILDRETH,  History, 
Volume  II,  pp.  25-43,  210-213;  FISKE,  Old  Virginia  and  Her  Neigh 
bors,  Volume  II,  Chapter  XV;  ANDREWS,  Colonial  Self-government, 
Chapters  IX,  X. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES—  1607-1700 

PLYMOUTH 

Nearly  the  whole  coast  of  North  America  had  been  divided 

between  the  London  and  Plymouth  Companies.     The  former 

established  Jamestown,  but  the  Plymouth  Corn- 

Efforts  to  found     an     at  first  had  no  such  success.     Some  of  its 


settlements  at  .  i  r  i       •      ,•  j 

the  North.  members  were  zealous  for  colonization  and  eager 
to  get  a  hold  upon  the  mainland  and  to  enjoy  a 
monopoly  of  the  fisheries;  but  efforts  to  this  end  were  fruit 
less.  The  same  year  that  Jamestown  was  founded,  colonists 
were  sent  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec,  but  the  settlement 
was  a  failure.  When  the  long  bitter  winter  set  in,  cold  and 
disease  brought  suffering  and  death;  and  the  next  summer 
the  enterprise  was  abandoned.  This  failure  seems  to  have  prej 
udiced  the  people  of  'England  against  the  bleak  and  forbidding 
north,  and  for  some  years  no  other  effort  at  settlement  was 
made.  In  1614.  John  Smith,  the  doughty  soldier  who  had 
saved  Jamestown,  made  a  voyage  to  these  coasts 
anc^  explored  them  from  the  Penobscot  to  Cape 
Cod.  He  drew  a  map  of  the  coast,  sprinkled 
it  plentifully  with  English  names,  and  christened  it  "New 
England".  l 

We  have  now  to  recount  the  beginnings  of  permanent  north 
ern  settlements,  the  courageous  work  of  men  and  women  who 
had  the  strength  of  heart  and  lofty  purpose  to  face  the  cold 
winters  of  New  England,  to  whom  wealth  was  of  little  moment 
if  they  were  allowed  to  worship  as  they  chose  and  to  live  their 

1  Smith  says  on  his  map:  "The  most  remarqueable  parts  thus  named 
by  the  high  and  mighty  Prince  Charles,  Prince  of  Great  Britaine". 

48 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700 


49 


jfcni^to  make,Etu[?&  Steels  outpyearc, 


PART  OF  JOHN  SMITH'S  MAP  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Dimple  lives  in  a  state  of  their  own  building.  To  understand 
aright  how  these  permanent  settlements  came  to  be  made,  we 
must  get  some  idea  of  the  religious  strivings  and  dissensions 
of  that  day  in  England. 

Students  of  English  history  will  remember  that,  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII,  the  Church  in  England  was  separated 
from  the  Roman  Church  and  dependence  on  the 
p°Pe  renounced.  In  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  how 
ever,  not  all  the  people  were  Protestants,  nor  was 
there  agreement  as  to  forms  of  worship  or  methods  of  church 
government.  The  queen  insisted  upon  conformity  to  the  reg- 


50  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

ulations  of  the  Established  Church,  of  which  she  was  the 
head,  and  during  her  reign  perhaps  the  majority  of  the  people 
acquiesced  in  the  conservative  position  she  adopted.  Many, 
on  the  other  hand,  were  dissatisfied,  and  some  were  ready  to 
suffer  persecution  rather  than  conform  to  the  existing  order. 
The  land  still  contained  Roman  Catholics  who  believed  that 
the  Pope  was  the  true  head  of  the  Church.  Others,  on  the  con 
trary,  were  desirous  of  freeing  the  Church  from  forms  and 
symbolism,  which  they  considered  relics  of  superstition.  They 
wished  to  "purify"  the  Church  by  adopting  simpler  modes  of 
worship.  They  objected  to  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism, 
to  the  use  of  the  surplice,  and  to  other  practices  of  this  kind. 
Still  another  class  believed  that  the  form  of  church  government 
should  be  altered,  that  the  creed  and  ritual  should  be  pre 
scribed  not  by  the  queen  but  by  assemblies.  These  persons 
were  known  as  Presbyterians,  because  they  believed  in  the  ap 
pointment  of  church  dignitaries  called  presbyters.  All  of 
these  classes,  so  far  named,  believed  in  a  state  church,  but  dis 
agreed  as  to  its  government  or  as  to  forms  of  worship.  There 
was,  in  addition,  another  sect  of  extreme  Puritans,  who  be 
lieved  that  a  church  was  a  local  body  of  believers,  and  that 
each  such  body  had  the  right  to  elect  its  own  ministers  and 
determine  its  own  methods.  These  men  were  called  "Inde 
pendents"  or  "Separatists",  because  they  believed  in  separa 
tion  from  the  Established  Church. 

Even  during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  members  of  dissenting 
sects  l  were  severely  punished.  The  Separatists  were  dealt 
Dissenters  w^n  sharply.  Upon  the  accession  of  James  there 
persecuted.  was  no  improvement.  He  was  a  stickler  for  prerog- 

1  The  sects  may  be  thus  designated: 

1.  Roman  Catholics. 

2.  Episcopalians:  a.  High  Church,  b.  Low  Church   .    .    .   Puritans. 

3.  Presbyterians. 

4.  Separatists. 

The  Low  Church,  Presbyterians,  and  Separatists  ought  all  to  be  called 
Puritans,  inasmuch  as  all  desired  "purification"  to  some  degree.  Persons 
were  also  called  "Conformists",  because  they  accepted  the  forms  of  the 
Church,  or  "Non-conformists",  because  they  objected  or  refused. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700  51 

ative,  and  in  his  narrow,  dogged  way  was  determined  to 
reign  with  a  high  hand  in  church  and  state.  But  the  Puritans 
grew  apace.  The  stately  Elizabeth  had  been  able  to  hold  her 
people;  her  pretensions  as  the  head  of  the  Church  seemed  not 
gross  blasphemy.  They  loved  her  well,  for  she  was  devoted  to 
England,  had  repelled  the  hated  Spaniard,  and  protected  with 
rare  shrewdness  her  people  and  her  throne.  But  James  was 
personally  sloven,  mentally  a  pedant,  morally  selfish.  Demand  for 
civil  and  religious  liberty  was  sure  to  grow  as  a  revolt  against 
the  assumption  of  such  a  monarch  who  believed  in  his  divine 
right  to  rule. 

We  are  especially  interested  in  a  congregation  of  earnest, 

conscientious  folk  who  came  together  for  worship  in  the  little 

hamlet   of   Scrooby  in   Nottinghamshire.      They 

The  Scrooby  0  A .  A  ( ,          - 

Congregation.  were  Separatists,  and  were  therefore  set  upon 
and  tormented.  They  could  not  long  continue  in 
any  peaceable  condition,  but  were  hunted  and  persecuted  on 
every  side,  so  that  their  former  afflictions  "were  but  as  flea- 
bi tings  in  comparison  of  these  which  now  came  upon  them". 
Thus  molested  and  beset  "by  a  joynte  consente  they  re 
solved  to  goe  into  ye  Low-Countries,  where  they  heard  was 
freedome  of  Religion  for  all  men".1  Betaking  themselves  to 
Amsterdam  (1608),  they  went  thence  to  Leyden.  They  had 
much  to  struggle  against  in  Holland,  although  the  Church 
prospered.  "That  which  was  ...  of  all  sorrows  most  heavie 
to  be  borne  was  that  many  of  their  children  .  .  .  were  drawn 
away  .  .  .  into  extra vagante  dangerous  courses".  So  they  de 
termined  to  go  to  America  and  build  for  themselves  new 

1  "For  some  were  taken  and  clapt  up  in  prison,  others  had  their  homes 
besett  &  watcht  night  and  day,  &  hardly  escaped  their  hands  and  ye  most 
were  faine  to  flie  &  leave  their  howses  and  habitations,  and  the  means  of 
their  livelehood. " 

These  words  and  other  quotations  of  this  chapter  are  from  the  History 
of  Plymouth  Plantation  by  William  Bradford,  second  governor  of  the  col 
ony.  Bradford  has  justly  been  called  the  father  of  American  history.  His 
book  was  left  in  manuscript  and  was  not  published  until  about  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is  beautifully  written.  "The  daily  food  of 
his  spirit  was  noble". 


52  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

homes  far  away  from  the  vices  of  Europe  and  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  long  arm  of  persecution. 

"The  place  they  had  thoughts  on  was  some  of  those  vast 
and  unpeopled  countries  of  America,  which  are  fruttful  &  fitt 
for  habitation,  being  devoyd  of  all  civill  in- 
habitants,  wher  ther  are  only  salvage  and  brut- 
tish  men  which  range  up  and  downe  little  other 
wise  than  the  wild  beasts  of  the  same".  They  wished  to  settle 
somewhere  in  the  northern  part  of  the  London  Company's 
grant,  south  of  stern  New  England,  whose  cold  winters  were 
known  to  them.  It  did  not  seem  wise  for  the  whole  Leyden 
congregation  to  go,  but  an  advance  guard  of  one  hundred  and 
two  brave  souls  sailed  from  Plymouth,  England,  in  the  good 
ship  Mayflower,  September,  1620.  The  weather  was  rough  and 
tempestuous  and  when  they  first  saw  land  it  was  not  the  New 
Jersey  shore,  but  the  bleak  wintry  coast  of  New  England,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Cape  Cod.  There  they  finally  determined  to 
stay  and  to  build  their  homes  on  the  west  side  of  the  broad  bay, 
at  a  point  to  which  Smith  had  already  given  the 
name  of  Plymouth.  Before  leaving  their  ship  they 
came  together  in  the  little  cabin  and  drew  up  the 
famous  Mayflower  Compact,  whereby  they  solemnly  coven 
anted  and  combined  themselves  into  a  "civill  body  politick" 
for  their  "better  ordering  and  preservation".  They  acknowl 
edged  their  dread  sovereign  King  James,  but  they  declared  as 
well  their  intention  to  make  and  obey  the  laws.1 

The  land  offered  but  a  dreary  prospect.  "For,  summer 
being  done,  all  things  stand  upon  them  with  a  wether-beaten 
Hardship  met  face ;  and  ye  whole  countrie,  full  of  woods  and 
with  courage,  thickets,  represented  a  wild  and  savage  heiw". 

1  If  they  settled  in  New  England,  they  would  be  on  the  land  of  the  Coun 
cil  for  New  England,  a  corporation  which  had  just  been  established  in  Eng 
land  and  given  all  the  land  between  40°  and  48°.  It  is  unnecessary  for  us 
to  go  into  the  history  of  this  corporation,  which  for  a  time  owned  all  New 
England.  The  pilgrims,  seeing  that  they  were  to  settle  there,  entered  into 
this  compact,  and  of  themselves  assumed  that  power  of  self-management 
which  they  expected  to  have  in  Virginia  under  the  London  Company. 
Later  they  obtained  a  grant  from  the  Council  for  New  England. 


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54 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


The  first  winter  was  full  of  terrible  distress.  In  two  or 
three  months'  time  half  their  company  were  laid  away  in 
graves  under  the  snow.  In  the  time  of  most  distress  there 
were  but  "6  or  7  sound  persons;  who  .  .  .  spared  no  pains, 
but  .  .  .  fetched  wood"  for  the  sick,  "made  them  fires,  drest 
them  meat,  made  their  beads  .  .  .  cloathed  and  uncloathed 
them.  .  .  .  Whilst  they  had  health,  yea  or  any  strength  con 
tinuing,  they  were  not  wanting  to  any  that  had  need  of 
them".  When  the  Mayflower  sailed  back  to  England,  not  one 
of  the  settlers  returned.  They  planted  corn,  they  built  homes, 


A  PILGRIM  MEETING  HOUSE  AND  FORT 

they  met  together  in  town  meeting,  they  worshiped  God 
in  their  own  simple  fashion.  The  Puritan  state  and  the  Puri 
tan  church  in  America  were  begun. 

Where  there  was  so  much  energy  and  devotion,  success  was 
sure  to  follow.  The  colony  never  became  a  large  one,  but  it 
Out  of  small  was  ProsPerous>  wholesome,  and  sound.  It  showed 
beginnings  the  way  to  others,  and  prepared  for  the  greater 
great  things  migration  of  which  we  shall  now  read.  "Out  of 

are  produced.  „,        .        .         ,,  -i-^.        ir       •>      it  •,  • 

small  beginnings  ,  said   Bradford,     great  things 
have  been  produced;    and,  as  one  small  candle  may  light  a 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700 


55 


thousand,  so  the  light  here  kindled  hath  shone  to  many,  yea, 
in  some  sort  to  our  whole  nation".1 


Charles  I  and 
Parliament. 


MASSACHUSETTS   BAY  AND   HER  NEIGHBORS 

We  have  already  seen  that  during  the  reign  of  James  I 
there  were  growing  discontents  in  England.     When  his  son 

Charles    came 

to  the   throne 

(1625)  new 
troubles  set  in.  He  was 
even  more  obstinate  than 
his  father,  and  had  high 
ideas  of  his  own  authority 
and  contempt  for  such  prin 
ciples  of  the  constitution 
as  were  meant  to  restrain 
the  arbitrary  conduct  of  the 
king.  "The  king  is  in  his 
own  nature  very  stiff' ', 
said  Sir  Ferdinand  Fairfax, 
and  this  well  describes  the  character  of  the  young  monarch 
who  now  set  himself  the  task  of  ruling  without  regard  to  the 
wishes  of  the  nation.  He  began  almost  at  once  to  quarrel  with 
the  House  of  Commons,  demanding  money  from  it  without 
deigning  to  listen  to  complaints  or  consenting  to  consider 
grievances.2  But  the  House  could  not  be  browbeaten.  They 
wrested  from  him  his  consent  to  the  famous  Petition  of  Right. 
His  word  did  not  bind  him,  however;  he  disregarded  his  prom 
ises  and  went  on  as  before.  In  1629  he  dissolved  Parliament, 
and  for  eleven  years  he  ruled  without  one.  These  were  fateful 
years  for  England.  Archbishop  Laud  and  the  Earl  of  Strafford 

1  For  a  picturesque  description  of  life  in  Plymouth  in  early  days  read 
Hart,  Contemporaries,  vol.  i,  p.  356,  where  Governor  Edward  Winslow  is 
quoted. 

2  "I  would  you  would  hasten  for  my  supply",  he  exclaimed  in  anger 
when  the  House  sent  in  a  list  of  grievances,  "or  else  it  will  be  the  worse  foi 
yourselves,  for  if  any  ill  happen  I  think  I  shall  be  the  last  to  feel  it". 


56  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

laid  their  heavy  hands  upon  the  people,  seeking  to  crush  out 
all  opposition  and  to  cow  the  people  into  complete  submission 
to  the  king. 

Because  of  these  conditions  in  England  a  great  migration 
to  America  set  in.  In  these  years,  when  King  Charles  was 
ruling  without  a  parliament  and  exacting  illegal 
taxes  from  the  people,  over  twenty  thousand 
persons  left  their  homes  and  sailed  for  New  Eng 
land.  The  men  who  came  to  America  in  those  years  cherished 
the  principles  of  the  English  Constitution,  and  were  from  the 
same  class  as  those  who,  in  the  great  rebellion  (1642-49), 
fought  to  maintain  the  liberties  of  England.  They  believed  that 
a  monarch  had  no  right  to  take  money  from  the  people  without 
the  consent  of  Parliament.  They  believed  that  the  people  had 
rights  and  privileges,  and  many  of  them  realized, 

Its  meaning.  ,      '  / 

in  part  at  least,  the  force  of  the  maxim  that  be 
came  fundamental  in  the  New  World — that  government  ob 
tains  its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.  We 
may  consider,  therefore,  that  the  principles  for  which  our 
Revolution  was  afterward  fought  were  brought  by  these  men 
to  America  from  amid  the  trials  of  troubled  England  in  the 
days  of  Charles  I.  No  doubt  these  principles  grew  more  sturdy 
in  the  air  of  a  new  world,  but  the  principles  of  1776  were  not 
new  ideas  or  the  sudden  offspring  of  the  tyranny  of  George  III. 
They  were  English  principles,  for  which  the  people  of  England 
fought  in  their  rebellion  and  which  they  made  good  in  the  revo 
lution  of  1688;  and  in  the  Revolution  of  1776  the  American 
people,  more  true  to  these  principles  than  England  herself, 
struggled  to  maintain  them  and  make  them  effective. 

To  appreciate  this  movement  it  is   also  necessary  to  un 
derstand  the  character  and  purposes  of  these  emigrants.    They 

were  Puritans — not  Separatists,  but  believers  in 
the  settlers.  ^e  state  Church.  Believing,  however,  that  the 

Established  Church  needed  purification,  they 
came  to  America  that  they  might  worship  as  they  chose,  free 
from  the  persecution  of  Laud.  They  did  not  come  to  establish 
toleration,  but  to  carry  out  their  own  ideas  in  religion.  They 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700  57 

were,  moreover,  men  of  ideals  and  men  of  character.  Many 
of  them  were  men  of  education  and  of  wide  experience.  Among 
them  were  scholars  and  statesmen  and  learned  ministers.  They 
had  strong  convictions  and  great  earnestness  of  purpose.  The 
characteristic  organ  of  their  communities  was  "not  the  hand, 
nor  the  heart,  nor  the  pocket,  but  the  brain".1 

Having  seen  the  meaning  of  this  great  movement,  let  us 
now  see  how  the  settlements  were  made  and  how  they  pros 
pered.  Even  before  the  Puritans  of  New  England  in  any  large 
way  turned  to  thoughts  of  colonization  a  few  men  had  settled 
at  Salem,2  and  this  was  now  taken  as  a  starting-point,  a  basis 
for  more  extensive  settlement.  From  the  Council  for  New 
England  a  tract  of  land  was  obtained;  the  northern  boundary 
was  three  miles  north  of  the  Merrimac  River,  and  its  southern 
was  three  miles  south  of  the  Charles.  It  extended  westward 
to  the  Pacific.  In  1628  a  little  company  of  sixty  persons  set 
sail  for  Salem  under  the  leadership  of  John  Endicott,  Gentle 
man,  "a  man  well  known  to  divers  persons  of  good  note".3 

The  next  spring  a  royal  charter  was  granted  by  the  king, 
creating  a  corporation  with  the  title  of  the  Governor  and 
Company  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England.  It  is 

1  Tyler's  History  of  American  Literature,  vol.  i,  p.  98.    The  student  will 
find  Chapter  V  interesting  and  profitable  reading.     The  men  who  founded 
Massachusetts  are  said  to  have  come  from  that  class  of  men  "in  whom  at 
that  time  centered  for  the  English-speaking  race  the  possibility  for  any  fur 
ther  progress  in  human  society".    See  also  Fiske,  The  Beginnings  of  New 
England,  chap.  iii.    Though  not  at  first  Separatists,  these  men  early  used 
Congregational  church  government,  and  before  the  middle  of  the  seven 
teenth  century  took  the  name  "Congregational".    There  was  by  no  means 
complete  separation  between  church  and  state,  however,  through  the  whole 
colonial  history  of  Massachusetts. 

2  John  White,  a  Puritan  rector  of  Dorchester,  England,  entertained  the 
hope  of  raising  in  America  "a  bulwark  against  the  kingdom  of  Antichrist". 
In  a  pamphlet  which  is  attributed  to  his  pen  the  Puritans  were  urged  to 
"avoid  the  plague  while  it  is  foreseen",  and  not  to  tarry  till  it  overtake 
them. 

3  "A  fit  instrument  to  begin  this  wilderness  work,  of  courage  bold,  un 
daunted,  yet  sociable  and  of  a  cheerful  spirit,  loving  and  austere,  apply 
ing  himself  to  either  as  occasion  served"   (from    the    Wonder-working 
Providence). 


58 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Actual  boundariei  determine 

Various  bvundariet  claimed  by  Mass— 


The  charter, 
1628-29. 


one  of  the  curious  contrasts  of  history  that  in  th,e  same  year 
and  the  same  week  that  the  headstrong  monarch  entered  upon 
the  task  of  ruling  without  Parliament  he  granted  a  charter  to 

this  company, 
whose  work 
was  fated  to 
result  in  the  erection  across 
the  water  of  a  great  free 
republic,  which  was  des 
tined  to  cherish  and  de 
velop  the  principles  he  was 
seeking  to  crush.  The  af 
fairs  of  the  company  were 
intrusted  to  a  governor, 
deputy  governor,  and  eigh 
teen  assistants,  who  were 
elected  annually  by  the 
"  freemen  ",  as  the  members 
of  the  corporation  were 
called.  These  officers  were 

to  meet  once  a  month  or  oftener  to  transact  business,  and 
four  times  a  year  they  were  to  meet  with  all  the  freemen  in 
"one  great,  general,  and  solemn  assembly".  The  freemen  in 
these  "great  and  general"  courts  had  the  power  to  make  laws 
and  ordinances  for  the  welfare  of  the  company  and  for  the 
government  of  the  plantation,  "so  as  such  laws  and  ordinances 
be  not  contrary  and  repugnant  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  the 
realm  of  England".  Soon  after  the  granting  of  the  charter 
about  four  hundred  persons  embarked  for  New  England. 

The  company  in  England  now  decided  upon  the  important 

step  of  transferring  its  seat  of  government  and  taking  its  charter 

to  America.     This  change  was  of  great  moment. 

The  Company     jne  company  thus  fully  resident  in  the  New  World 

comes  to  i  ,. 

New  England.    was  more  than  a  trading  company,  such  as  it 

might  appear  to  be  on  the  face  of  the  charter. 

Legally  it  was  still  a  corporation  under  the  control  of  the  King 

of  England;  actually  it  developed  into  a  self-governing  com- 


GRANT  TO  MASSACHUSETTS  BAY 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES—  1607-1700          59 

monwealth,  a  body  politic,  in  nearly  all  respects  independent 
and  self-sufficient.1 

This  transference  of  the  charter  took  place  in  1630,  and  in 

the  same  year  nearly  one  thousand  persons  went  over  to  Massa 

chusetts.     This  was  the  greatest  effort  at  coloni- 

More  settlers,     zation  as  yet  made  by  Englishmen.  John  Winthrop,2 

a  man  of  noble  and  lofty  spirit,  a  magnanimous 

and  gentle  soul,  one  of  the  best  products  of  his  age,  a  high 

type  of    the    Puritan  statesman   and    scholar,   came   out  as 

governor  of  the  colony. 

Other  settlements  were  rapidly  founded.     Charlestown  had 
already  been  begun,   and  here  Winthrop  at  first  made    his 
home;  but  he  later  moved  to  the  peninsula  that 
™*  *          laY  to  the  south  and  west  of  Charlestown,  where 


three  bare  hills  raised  their  heads,  a  place  "very 
uneven,  abounding  in  small  hollows  and  swamps,  covered  with 
blueberries  and  other  bushes".  With  Winthrop  went  a  number 
of  other  people,  and  they  "began  to  build  their  homes  against 
winter;  and  this  place  was  called  Boston".  Other  towns  sprang 
up.  Within  a  year  of  Winthrop's  arrival  there  were  eight 
separate  settlements  extending  from  Salem  on  the  north  to 
Dorchester  on  the  south. 

We  may  well  notice  the  various  changes  that  were  made  in 
the  government  of  this  colony.  The  charter  of  a  trading  com 

pany  in  reality  furnished  the  basis  of  the  govern- 
govcrnment  merit  of  the  people.  Self-government  was  not 

here,  as  in  Virginia,  a  gift  from  the  company  to 
the  settler.  The  government  of  the  company  had  come  across 

1The  company  records  say:  "And  lastly,  the  Governor  read  certain 
propositions  conceived  by  himself,  viz.:  That  for  the  advancement  of  the 
Plantation,  ...  to  transfer  the  government  of  the  Plantation  to  those  that 
shall  inhabit  there,  and  not  to  continue  the  same  in  subordination  to  the 
Company  here,  as  now  it  is". 

2  The  picture  of  Winthrop  shown  on  the  next  page  is  engraved  in 
many  places,  notably  in  Winthrop's  History,  in  Winsor's  Memorial 
History  of  Boston,  etc.  It  is  a  copy  of  a  painting  supposed  to  be  by 
the  great  artist  Vandyke.  It  hangs  in  the  Senate  Chamber  of  Massa 
chusetts.  He  was  governor  of  Massachusetts  Bay  from  his  arrival  in  1630 
to  1634,  and  at  several  other  times. 


60 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


the  water  and  was  the  government  of  the  colony.    The  right 
to  choose  officers  and  to  pass  laws  and  regulations  belonged 


JOHN  WINTHROP 
The  Original  is  in  the  State  House,  Boston 

to  the  members  of  the  company;  but  the  membership  was  soon 
increased  by  admitting  into  the  company  other  persons  who 
were  members  of  the  churches  in  the  colony.  Thus  member- 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700  61 

ship  in  the  church  and,  the  right  to  participate  in  managing 
general  colonial  affairs  went  together.  At  a  later  time  (1664) 
this  right  to  vote  on  colonial  matters  was  extended  and  a 
more  liberal  rule  adopted;  but  the  colony  was  practically  in 
the  hands  of  the  church  members  till  Massachusetts  was 
compelled  to  give  up  the  corporation  charter  under  which  she 
was  living  (1684).  For  the  first  year  or  two  the  governor  and 
assistants  exercised  more  power  than  they  were  entitled  to 
under  the  charter,  and  the  assistants,  it  seems,  assumed  the  right 
to  hold  office  until  the  freemen — that  is  to  say,  the  members 
of  the  company — removed  them.  This  plan  did  not  last. 
When  WTatertown  was  called  upon  to  pay  a  tax,  "the  pastor, 
elder,  etc.,  assembled  the  people  and  delivered  the  opinion  that 
it  was  not  safe  to  pay  moneys  after  that  sort,  for  fear  of  bring 
ing  themselves  and  their  posterity  into  bondage".  This  was 
the  true  American  doctrine,  "No  taxation  without  representa 
tion".  Soon  after  this  (May,  1632)  the  General  Court  agreed 
"that  the  governor  and  assistants  should  all  be  new  chosen 
every  year  by  the  General  Court".  It  was  also  proposed 
that  every  town  should  choose  "two  men  to  be  at  the  next 
court,  to  advise  with  the  governor  and  assistants  about  the 
raising  of  a  public  stock,  so  that  what  they  should  agree 
upon  should  bind  all".  Somewhat  later  it  was  ordered  "that 
every  town  should  send  their  deputies,  who  should  assist  in 
making  laws,  disposing  lands,  etc."1 

For  some  time  these  representatives  or  deputies  sat  with 
the  governor  and  assistants  as  one  body,  but  in  1644  another 
A  great  business  change  was  made.  The  assistants  and  deputies 
on  small  occasion,  did  not  get  on  very  well  together  and  so  separated 

1  These  quotations  are  from  The  History  of  New  England  from  1630 
to  1649,  by  John  Winthrop.  Governor  Winthrop  in  this  book,  which  is  in 
the  form  of  a  diary,  has  left  for  us  his  own  account  of  the  building  of  Mas 
sachusetts. 

The  General  Court  was  the  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  company, 
like  the  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of  a  modern  corporation;  but,  as  the 
text  above  explains,  this  meeting  became  a  representative  body  for  law  mak 
ing,  while  all  the  freemen  retained  the  right  to  elect  the  governor,  deputy 
governor  and  assistants. 


62 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Towns. 


and  formed  two  houses  for  making  the  laws — "a  great  busi 
ness",  to  use  Winthrop's  words,  "upon  a  very  small  occasion".1 
It  is  important  to  notice  that  the  settlers  in  Massachusetts 
did  not,  as  did  the  Virginians,  begin  at  an  early  day  to  reach 
out  into  the  wilderness  and  make  plantations;  nor 
did  men  go  alone  to  distant  farms  as  they  did 
when  the  great  West  was  settled  in  later  years.  The  neighbor 
hood  of  Boston  was  soon  occupied  by  little  groups  of  men  and 

women,  each  group 
with  its  own  church 
and  ere  long  with  its 
own  school.  The 
tilled  land,  the 
meadows,  the  pas 
tures,  lay  near  the 
little  group  of  houses. 
As  the  years  went 
by,  small  bands  of 
men,  obtaining  land 
from  the  government 

of  the  colony,  found- 
CHATR  AND  CRADLE  USED  IN  THE  EARLY  COLONY  'r*        . 

ed  towns  in  outlying 

regions;  but  a  town  meant  more  than  a  cluster  or  line  of  houses; 
the  settlers'  homes  were  usually  close  together,  ranged  along  the 
village  street,  but  a  man  was  a  member  of  the  town,  even  though 
his  house  was  not  close  to  the  others.  The  town  was  an  asso 
ciation  for  government  and  for  business  purposes,  and  in  the 
town  meeting  men  managed  their  own  local  affairs  and  looked 
after  their  simple  needs,  subject  of  course  to  the  laws  of  the 
General  Court,  which  legislated  on  all  general  matters  for  the 
colony.2 

1  For  some  time  the  deputies  and  assistants  had  disagreed  over  their 
powers.    When  a  controversy  arose  between  a  rich  man  and  a  poor  woman 
about  the  ownership  of  a  stray  pig,  a  majority  of  the  assistants  favored 
the  man,  and  a  majority  of  the  deputies  the  woman.    This  dispute  helped 
to  bring  about  the  separation  into  two  houses. 

2  By  the  New  Englander  the  town  is  easily  understood;  but  the  Western 
and  Southern  reader  often  mistakes  the  meaning  of  the  term.    To  the  West- 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700          63 

Within  four  years  from  the  settlement  of  Boston  there  were 
four  thousand  people  in  the  colony.     They  were  industrious 

and  thrifty;  they  built  houses,  laid  out  roads,  and 

tilled  the  soil.  Not  content  with  mere  bodily 
well-being,  they  decided  that  learning  should  not  "be  buried 
in  the  graves"  of  their  fathers.  They  knew  that  it  was  "one 
chief  project"  of  "that  old  deluder  Satan"  "to  keep  men  from 
the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures"  by  persuading  them  "from 
the  use  of  tongues."  l  In  1636  the  General  Court  appropriated 
money  for  a  college,  and  two  years  later  John  Harvard,  "a 
godly  Gentleman  and  a  lover  of  learning",  gave  the  "one  halfe 
of  his  Estate  (it  being  in  all  about  lyoo/.)  .  .  .  and  all  his 
library"  for  this  purpose.  A  law  was  soon  passed  requiring 
every  township  of  fifty  householders  to  maintain  a  school  for 
reading  and  writing,  and  every  town  of  a  hundred  householders 
a  grammar  school  to  fit  youths  for  the  university. 

Though   the   colony  grew  and  prospered,  its   earlier   days 
were  not  free  from  anxiety.     The  movement  to  America  was 

not  looked  on  with  favor  by  the  high-church 
England  "  authorities  in  England,  and  for  a  time  it  looked 

as  if  the  company  might  lose  its  charter,  and  be 
brought  immediately  under  the  king.  But  the  danger  blew  over, 
the  company  went  on,  and  soon  Charles  I  and  his  advisers  had  too 
much  trouble  at  home  to  worry  over  Puritans  across  the  sea. 
While  this  danger  from  its  foes  in  England  was  disturbing 
the  colony  there  was  also  trouble  within,  growing  largely  out 
of  religious  differences.  We  must  remember  that  the  Mas 
sachusetts  leaders  did  not  come  to  the  New  World  to 


ern  man  the  town  usually  means  a  group  of  houses,  sometimes  it  may  be  a 
city,  sometimes  only  a  hamlet.  The  New  Englanders  did  settle  in  groups 
and  that  fact  is  important;  but  it  is  also  a  fact  that  the  settlers  had  com 
mon-interests;  the  earlier  settlers  were  given  the  land  as  a  body;  together 
they  looked  after  their  own  immediate  concerns.  The  town  meeting  pro 
vided  for  taxes  and  passed  the  regulations  that  were  needed.  The  town 
system  was  the  general  system  by  which  New  England  was  settled. 

1  These  words  are  part  of  an  ordinance  passed  in  1647,  at  which  timt 
the  law  for  the  establishment  of  a  school  in  each  township  was  passed. 
Legislation  on  the  subject  had  been  passed  even  earlier. 
6 


64  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

set  an  example  of  religious  freedom  —  not  at  all.  They 
were  out  of  patience  with  church  rule  in  England;  but 
they  came  here  to  build  their  own  "Bible 
commonwealth"  and  to  worship  as  they  chose. 
Leaders  in  any  great  enterprise  are  likely  to  be  determined 
souls,  and  these  men  were  not  ready  to  put  up  with  differ 
ences  of  opinion  and  endure  a  variety  of  religious  forms  and 
beliefs;  for  there  was  one  true  way  and  he  that  would  not 
follow  therein  must  be  narrow-minded  or  obstinate  at  the 
best.  So  first  and  last  there  was  much  harsh  treatment  of 
those  who  ventured  to  announce  new  and  unsavory  doctrines. 
What  were  the  elders  for  but  to  expound  the  Scriptures,  that 
all  might  know  the  truth  and  follow  it?1  Thus  the  leaders 
believed  and  thus  they  practiced. 

Among  the  first  of  those  that  came  to  disturb  the  colony 

was  young  Roger  Williams,  a  man  of  ability,  of  sound  morals 

and  lofty  purposes.    He  could  not  live   quietly 

Roger  Williams.  J  .  *.     ^  .  l  J 

without  airing  his  views;  he  loved  to  talk  and  he 
reveled  in  argument.  When  he  asserted  that  the  powers  of 
the  civil  magistrates  extended  only  to  the  bodies,  goods  and 
the  outward  state  of  men,  in  other  words,  that  the  civil 
officers  should  not  meddle  with  church  affairs  but  let  men 
worship  as  they  chose — when  he  found  fault  with  the  charter 
and  uttered  "new  and  dangerous  opinions",  he  was  ordered 
to  leave  the  colony.  Fleeing  into  the  wilderness  (January, 
1636),  "sorely  tossed"  as  he  afterward  said,  "in  a  bitter 
winter  season,  not  knowing  what  bread  or  bed  did  mean",  he 
made  his  way  to  Narragansett  Bay  and  together  with  a  few 
friends  from  the  settlements  founded  Providence.  The  first 
government  of  this  little  colony  was  a  simple  democracy 

1  To  speak  sharply  of  New  England  intolerance  is  easy  enough,  but 
withal  there  is  no  need  of  using  hard  words  about  men  of  the  past  who  strove 
conscientiously  to  live  the  life  and  teach  the  truth  they  heartily  believed  in. 
The  historical  fact  is  that  these  men  did  not  believe  in  or  practice  freedom 
in  religious  belief,  and  the  historical  fact  is  that  toleration  and  a  free  spirit 
grew  as  time  went  on.  A  man  like  Williams  was  ahead  of  his  day,  a  voice 
in  the  wilderness,  a  prophet  who  was  to  help  bring  forward,  though  with 
bickering  meanwhile,  the  days  of  peace. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700  65 

built  on  the  principle  of  majority  rule  and  its  power  extended 
not  to  matters  of  conscience  but  only  to  "civil  things".1 

And  then  came  Anne  Hutchinson,  an  able  and  "nimble- 
witted"  woman,  who  had  the  boldness  to1  gather  men  and 
women  at  her  house  ancl  talk  of  religious  things. 
She,  a  woman,  dared  to  expound  new  doctrines 
and  to  point  out  a  way  of  life.  Her  sayings  are 
to  us  now  strange  and  clumsy  things;  we  need  to  be  steeped 
in  the  lore  of  theology  before  we  understand  what  the  words 
mean  and  what  the  turmoil  was  all  about.  But  the  people 
of  Boston  understood  or  thought  they  did,  and  Mistress  Anne 
stirred  up  such  discussion  that  even  the  governor  of  the  colony 
was  involved.  The  little  town  of  Boston  throbbed  with  interest 
and  many  a  faithful  follower  began  to  look  askance  at  the 
ministers  and  their  teaching.  The  leaders  of  the  people  and 
the  elders  of  the  church,  shocked  and  distressed  by  the 
doctrines  and  the  presumption  of  the  woman,  turned  upon 
her;  so  she  too  was  sent  from  the  colony  and  went  forth 
into  the  forest.  As  Williams  had  done  before  her,  she  made 
her  way  southward  with  a  few  faithful  followers;  a  settlement 
was  made  on  the  island  of  Aquidneck — afterward  called  the 
Isle  of  Rhodes,  or  Rhode  Island — which  was  bought  from  the 
Indians  for  "forty  fathoms  of  white  beads". 

The  spirit  of  intolerance  was  triumphant  when  Anne 
Hutchinson  left  Boston;  "no  unsound,  unsavorie  and  gidie 
fancy"  dared  lift  its  head  or  "abide  the  light".  When  the 
Quakers  came  a  few  years  later  and  preached  their  doctrine 
of  the  "inner  light",  declaring  that  every  man  should  follow 
conscience  without  direction  from  priest  or  minister,  they  were 
set  upon  and  banished.  Some  of  them  daring  to  return 
were  hanged  in  Boston.  That  was  the  beginning  of  the  end, 
however;  public  opinion  did  not  support  such  severe  measures, 
and  gradually  a  freer  and  more  liberal  sentiment  grew  up 
in  the  colony.2 

1  Read  Fiske,  Beginnings  of  New  England,  114;  Eggleston,  Beginners 
of  a  Nation,  Book  iii,  Chap.  ii. 

2  See  Fiske,  Beginnings  of  New  England,  pp.  180,181.  In  Hart,  Contem- 


66 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Rhode  Island. 


Connecticut. 


Settlers  went  into  the  Narragansett  region,  as  we  have 
seen,  with  Roger  Williams  and  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  and  soon  af 
terward     others 
went   there   and 
founded  new  settlements.    In 
1644  a  patent  was   obtained 
from  the  Parliament,  giving  the 
people  a  large  measure  of  self- 
government,  and  uniting  the 
settlements — the  beginning  of 
the  legal  organization  of  Rhode 
Island. 

While  the  authorities  at 
Boston  were  busy  in  bidding 
disturbers  be  si 
lent  or  leave,  men 
were  beginning  to  move  into 
the  western  region.  Saybrook 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecti 
cut  River  was  founded  (1635) ;  and  in  1638  people  came  from  New 
England  and,  passing  through  the  old  colony,  founded  New  Ha 
ven.  But  the  most  important  movement  was  westward  from  the 
towns  around  Boston  harbor  to  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut. 
The  great  leader  of  the  enterprise  was  Thomas  Hooker,  a 
learned  and  eloquent  preacher  and  a  man  of  personal  force.1  In 
1636  a  band  of  settlers  led  by  their  Hooker  made  their  way 

poraries,  etc.,  vol.  i,  p.  479,  will  be  found  The  Justification  of  Mary  Dyer, 
one  of  the  Quakers  who  was  hanged;  also  the  trial  of  Winlock  Christison, 
p.  481.  Christison  was  condemned  to  death,  but  public  sentiment 
prevented  the  execution. 

1 " In  matters  .  .  .  which  concern  the  common  good  ",  said  Hooker,  "a  gen 
eral  council  chosen  by  all  to  transact  business  which  concerns  all,  I  con 
ceive  .  .  .  most  suitable  to  rule  and  most  safe  for  relief  of  the  whole".  This 
sentiment  was  different  from  that  of  Winthrop,  who  had  declared  that 
"the  best  part  is  always  the  least,  and,  of  that  best  part,  the  wiser  part  ir 
always  the  lesser".  This  difference  between  the  ideas  of  Hooker  and  Win 
throp  may  perhaps  illustrate  the  reasons  for  the  movement  to  the  Connec 
ticut  Valley,  but  in  addition  to  this  the  people  wanted  more  and  better 
grazing  for  their  cattle. 


RHODE  ISLAND  AND  PROVIDENCE 
PLANTATIONS 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700          67 

to  the  Connecticut  valley  and  began  the  building  of  Hart 
ford.1  Within  a  year  the  new  colony  had  eight  hundred  peo 
ple  gathered  in  the  three  towns  of  Windsor,  Hartford  and 
Wethersfield.  There  was  much  suffering  in  the  ear- 
Towns!1  6y  ty  vears>  f°r  to  build  for  new  homes  in  a  wilderness  • 
under  the  best  of  circumstances  means  privation' 
if  not  actual  want.  The  worst  of  horrors,  an  Indian  war,  was 
added  to  other  trials.  In  the  summer  of  1637  a  small  band  of 
white  men  attacked  the  Pequots  in  their  palisaded  town  and 
practically  exterminated  them.  -  "It  is  reported  by  themselves", 
said  one  of  the  victorious  party,  "that  there  were  about  four 
hundred  souls  in  the  fort,  and  not  five  of  them  escaped  out 
of  our  hands". 

In  1639  the  settlers  formed  a  government  for  themselves 
and  drew  up  the  famous  Fundamental  Orders.  The  new  gov 
ernment  was  not  unlike  that  of  Massachusetts. 
OrdersTf^ap  ^he  inhabitants  of  each  town  could  choose  four 
deputies  in  the  legislative  assembly,  called  the 
General  Court,  while  the  governor  and  six  magistrates  or  as 
sistants,  also  forming  part  of  the  General  Court,  were  elected 
by  the  whole  body  of  the  people.  Possibly,  if  we  compared  these 
Orders,  drawn  up  by  these  free-thinking  men  in  the  Connecticut 
wilderness,  with  modern  constitutions  and  with  all  the  prin 
ciples  that  have  grown  up  about  them,  we  should  hesitate  to 
say  that  they  were  really  what  they  have  sometimes  been  called 
— "the  first  truly  political  written  constitution  in  history". 
But  even  if  they  were  in  one  sense  not  a  constitution,  we  should 
not  lose  sight  of  the  significance  of  the  fact  that  these  frontiers 
men  were  showing  marked  capacity  for  organization  and  were 
easily  and  of  their  own  accord  mapping  out  a  system  of  govern 
ment  and  preparing  to  live  quietly  under  the  laws  made  by 
themselves.  Such  an  act  as  this  was  to  be  done  once  and  again 

1  Hooker's  "wife  was  carried  on  a  horse  litter;  and  they  drove  one 
hundred  and  sixty  cattle,  and  fed  of  their  milk  by  the  way" — is  the 
statement  of  Winthrop.  They  were  "making  the  first  of  those  pilgrim 
ages  toward  the  setting  sun  which  later  became  a  marked  characteristic 
of  American  life". — (Channing,  History  of  the  United  States,  I,  400.) 


68 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


T  L  A  N  T  I  C 


OCEAN 


as  the  American  frontier  was  pushed  westward,  and  as  men,  cut 
off  by  the  intervening  forest  from  their  older  homes,  found  need 
of  new  laws  and  their  own  magistrates. 

Settlements  were  also  made  in  the  early  years  in  the  land 
that  became  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  largely  made  up 
t  of  men 

older 

settlements,  and  they 
were,  during  most  of 
the  century,  a  part 
of  Massachusetts. 
These  outlying  re 
gions  at  the  north 
grew  slowly.  A  trav 
eler  who  sailed  along 
the  coast  in  1638  de 
scribed  the  region  as 
"no  other  than  a  mere 
wilderness,  with  here 
and  there  by  the  sea 
side  a  few  scattered 
plantations  with  a  few 
houses".1 

Almost      immedi 
ately  after  the  found 
ing    of     Connecticut 
there  was  some  discussion  as  to  the  advisability  of  forming 

1  Some  settlers  seem  to  have  been  at  Dover  in  New  Hampshire  as  early 
as  1628.  Mason  and  Gorges,  two  Englishmen  who  were  for  many  years 
interested  in  colonization,  obtained  at  an  early  day  a  grant  to  all  the  land 
between  the  Merrimac  and  the  Kennebec.  This  property  was  later  divided 
and  Mason  became  possessed  of  the  territory  between  the  Merrimac  and 
the  Piscataqua.  Gorges  received  the  remainder.  Mason's  share  was, 
roughly  speaking,  New  Hampshire,  and  as  we  have  seen,  was  after  a  time 
annexed  to  Massachusetts.  On  Gorges's  portion  of  this  grant  were  a  num 
ber  of  little  settlements,  some  of  them  made  quite  early  in  the  history  of 
New  England. 


TERRITORY  GRANTED  TO  MASON  AND  GORGES 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700 


69 


a  league  among  the  various  New  England  colonies.  The  pur 
pose  of  combining  was  to  secure  mutual  protection.  The 
Pequot  War  had  shown  the  danger  of  an  Indian  outbreak. 

Moreover,  the  Dutch  on  the  Hudson  were  trouble- 
Need  of  union.  ,  .  .  ...  ...  .  _ ,  , 

some  and  ambitious  neighbors,  while  the  French 
at  the  north,  though  seemingly  afar  off,  had  already  shown  that 
they  were  near  enough  to  cause  uneasiness  if  not  danger. 


may  Pt. 


EXTENT  OF  THE  SETTLEMENTS  IN  NEW  ENGLAND  IN  1660 

A  union  was  therefore  formed:  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 

Plymouth  and  New  Haven,  entering  into  a  "firm  and  perpetual, 

league  of  friendship"  with  the  right  to  determine 

New  England      upon  all  matters  of  common  interest.    The  con- 

Conf  ederation,       »    •     -     •          «      L    «  • 

i643_>84.  I  ederation   lasted   some   years,    in   tact   not  en 

tirely    disappearing    until    1684.    It  must  have 
had  an  important  effect  upon  the  later  history  of  America. 


70  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Eighty  years  passed  by  before  the  popular  representatives 
from  all  the  colonies  came  together  to  protest  against  the 
novel  laws  of  England,  and  to  body  forth  the  real  unity 
of  interest  in  the  settlements  scattered  along  the  Atlantic 
coast;  but  a  remembrance  of  the  New  England  Confederation 
could  not  have  died  out  during  those  eighty  years,  and  it 
doubtless  aided  in  the  work  of  forming  a  perpetual  union. 

From  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war  in  England   (1642) 
until  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts  (1660)  New  England  was 

allowed  to  govern  itself;  but  Charles  II  was 
charters  hardly  seated  on  his  throne  before  he  turned  his 

attention  to  America.  New  Haven  had  received 
and  sheltered  two  of  the  fugitive  judges  of  the  court  that  had 
condemned  his  royal  father  to  death.  Spite  of  its  protestations, 
it  was  now  annexed  to  Connecticut.  The  latter  colony  was 
given  a  liberal  charter,  which  became  very  dear  to  the  people. 
Rhode  Island,  too,  received  a  new  charter.  It  is  an  interest 
ing  fact  that  Charles  II,  who  in  England  gave  no  sign  of  loving 
free  government,  should  have  granted  these  two  charters,  so 
liberal  and  good  that  the  people  cherished  them  and  kept  them 
as  their  fundamental  constitutions  well  down  into  the  nine 
teenth  century.1 

Although  Charles  II  gave  these  charters  to  Connecticut  and 
Rhode  Island,  allowing  them  great  freedom  in  ruling  themselves, 

the  position  of  Massachusetts  annoyed  the  Eng- 

Massachusetts      ,.  ,    ]  ,.   ,          .     ,  .    J     . 

attacked.  ^lsn  government,  which  tried  during  those  years 

to  bring  about  some  kind  of  orderly  management, 
oversight  and  direction  of  colonial  affairs.  Massachusetts 
was  obstinate  and  stiff  necked  and  felt  quite  able  to  look  after 
herself,  and  though  she  succeeded  for  years  in  postponing  and 
avoiding  the  trouble  she  had  at  length  to  yield.  First  New  Hamp 
shire  was  taken  from  her  and  made  a  royal  province,  the  first 
in  New  England.  Next,  the  old  charter  of  Massachusetts  was 
annulled,  the  charter  under  which  this  great  Puritan  common- 


1  The  charter  of  Rhode  Island  (1663)  continued  to  be  the  Constitution 
of  the  State  until  1843.    Connecticut  preserved  hers  until  1818. 


THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COLONIES— 1607-1700          71 

wealth  had  grown  and  prospered  and  become  the  mother  of 
colonies   (1684). 

Then  after  James  II  came  to  the  throne  (1685),  the  plan 
was  begun  of  bringing  the  northern  colonies  under  one  govern 
ment  to  be  directed  from  England.  Sir  Edmund 
Andros  was  sent  over  to  carry  out  the  royal 
will.  He  did  not  succeed  in  doing  much  with 
Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  but  he  entered  with  vigor  upon 
his  course  with  Massachusetts,  and  the  old  colony  saw  the 
General  Court  abolished  at  his  word,  town  meetings  limited 
to  one  a  year,  and  other  steps  taken  that  aroused  a  bitter  spirit 
of  anger  and  resentment.  Nominally,  Andros  was  governor- 
general  of  all  the  vast  territory  north  and  east  of  the  Delaware 
— the  Dominion  of  New  England  as  it  was  called.  But  his 
power  did  not  last  long.  With  the  Revolution  of  1688  in  Eng 
land,  James  II  hurried  away  to  France;  and,  when  the  news 
came  to  Massachusetts,  the  people  poured  into  Boston,  seized 
upon  Andros  and  set  up  their  own  government  again. 

The  tyranny  of  Andros  doubtless  taught  its  lesson  to  the 
New  Englanders.  Seventy-five  years  later  men  remembered 
this  attack  upon  their  liberties.  Had  the  plans  of  James  worked 
smoothly  at  home,  the  boasted  freedom  of  England  would  have 
disappeared.  Had  his  plans  been  carried  out  in  America,  free 
colonial  life  would  have  been  crushed  out.  But  the  Revolution 
of  1688  saved  the  liberties  of  England  and  America,  and  in  the 
next  century  the  colonies  strengthened  their  hold  upon  prin 
ciples  of  self-government. 

After  the  Revolution,  when  William  and  Mary  came  to  the 

English  throne,  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  were  allowed 

to  go  under  their  old  charters,  but  Massachusetts 

A  new  charter.  '     .  />%•*•.  •  J    J  r        .LI 

was  given  a  new  one  (1691).  It  provided  for  the 
appointment  by  the  crown  of  a  governor,  lieutenant- 
governor,  and  secretary;  the  assistants  or  councilors  and 
the  representatives  constituted  with  the  governor  the  Gen 
eral  Court.  The  representatives  were  to  be  elected  by  the 
towns;  but  the  assistants  and  representatives  together  chose 
each  year  the  assistants  for  the  following  year.  Plymouth  was 


72  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

added  to  Massachusetts.  Maine  and  Acadia  also  belonged  to 
her.  Thus  the  colony  held  the  coast,  with  the  exception  of  the 
colony  of  New  Hampshire,  from  Buzzard's  Bay  to  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence. 

At  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  New  England 
Colonies  were  strong  and  prosperous.  Year  by  year  little  groups 
of  people  founded  new  towns  in  the  wilderness,  or  along  the 
coast;  year  by  year  there  were  new  evidences  of  strength  and 
capacity  for  self-government. 

REFERENCES 

Short  accounts :  THWAITES,  The  Colonies,  pp.  1 1 2-1 7 7 ;  FISHER,  The 
Colonial  Era,  pp.  82-176;  EGGLESTON,  The  Beginners  of  a  Nation, 
pp.  98-220,  266-346.  Longer  accounts:  FISKE,  Beginnings  of  New 
England;  BANCROFT,  History,  Volume  I,  pp.  177-407,  584-589,  also 
Volume  II,  pp.  47-69;  TYLER,  England  in  America,  Chapters  VII- 
XIX;  ANDREWS,  Colonial  Self-government,  Chapters  XVI-XVIII; 
CHANNING,  History  of  the  United  States,  Volume  I,  Chapters  X-XV; 
Volume  II,  Chapters  III,  VI,  VII. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES— 1614-1700 

NEW   YORK 

While  England  was  getting  a  strong  footing  in  the  North 
and  at  the  South  along  the  Atlantic  coast,  the  Dutch  began 
_  _,  to  take  possession  in  the  middle  region.1  An 

Henry  Hudson.  ..    __  __     . 

explorer  by  the  name  of  Henry  Hudson,  an 
Englishman  in  the  employ  of  a  Dutch  company,  seeking  to 
solve  the  old  problem  and  to  find  a  short  route  to  the  silks  and 
spices  of  the  Orient,  sailed  one  summer  day  (1609)  into  New 
York  harbor  and  then  up  the  noble  river  that  was  to  bear  his 
name.  He  found  no  route  to  India  but  was  deeply  impressed 
with  the  beauties  of  the  country,  and  returned  to  Holland  to 
recount  his  travels  and  to  report  that  from  the  natives  who 
inhabited  the  new-found  land  furs  could  be  had  almost  for  the 
asking — for  baubles  and  trinkets  and  gewgaws. 

Thus  Hudson  opened  up  to  the  Dutch  a  new  trade,  and  the 
merchants  of  Amsterdam  were  not  slow  in  taking  advantage 
of   it.       Traders  soon  found  their  way  to  the 

banks  of  the  new  river  to  traffic  with  the  na- 
tives.     Trading  stations  were  founded.     Finally 

a  company  was  organized  and  granted  immense  power  (1621). 
To  this  West  India  Company  Holland  transferred  her  pros- 

1  In  the  seventeenth  century  Holland  was  one  of  the  most  prosperous 
and  progressive  countries  of  Europe.  While  Elizabeth  was  on  the  throne 
of  England  this  sturdy  little  nation  was  engaged  in  a  long  fight  against  the 
tyranny  of  Spain — a  fight  full  of  deeds  of  daring  and  of  bravery  beyond 
compare.  It  came  out  of  this  conflict  a  self-reliant  people — stronger,  more 
vigorous  than  ever  before — while  the  power  of  Spain,  the  mighty  oppressor, 
was  checked.  Now,  just  as  England  was  getting  ready  to  colonize  and  to 
build  up  her  great  states  in  the  New  World,  brave  little  Holland  was  a 
serious  rival.  The  Dutch  were  the  carriers  of  Europe.  In  the  middle  of 

73 


74  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

pects  in  the  New  World;  but  a  thoroughly  successful  colony 
could  not  arise  under  the  direction  of  a  company  whose  only 
end  was  gain. 

The  first  colony  under  the  new  company  was  sent  over  in 
1623  and  settlements  were  soon  made  here  and  there — at  Fort 
Orange,  where  Albany  now  stands,  at  New  Amsterdam  on 
Manhattan  Island,  where  one  of  the  great  cities  of  the  world 
now  raises  its  lofty  towers  and  buildings  in  the  air,  and  even  at 
places  on  the  Delaware  and  the  Connecticut.  Controlling 
this  great  central  region  and  holding  the  Hudson  River,  which 
offered  a  highway  to  the  Indian  trade  and  fur  trade  of  the 
interior,  New  Netherland,  as  the  Dutch  called  the  colony, 
had  a  favorable  location  and  might,  one  would  think,  have 
prospered  greatly.  But,  on  the  whole,  things  did  not  go  on 
very  well.  Friendly  relations  with  the  Iroquois  Indians  were 
established,  and  loads  of  furs  were  carried  away  to  the  marts  of 
Holland;  but  you  cannot  found  a  big,  substantial  colony  with 
out  farms,  and  farmers,  and  families,  and  contented  settlers. 
Big  estates  were  given  a  few  men  who  would  come  to  the 
country  and  bring  colonists  with  them — the  "patroons"1  these 
men  were  called,  but  in  the  middle  of  the  century  the  colony 
was  not  so  firmly  planted,  so  safe  in  its  own  strength  and 
prosperity  as  the  self-reliant  settlements  of  New  England,  which 
had  grown  up  without  the  orders  of  a  company  that  lived  in 
Europe  and  was  bent  on  making  money.2 

the  seventeenth  century  they  are  said  to  have  had  half  the  carrying  trade 
of  the  Continent.  Amsterdam  was  a  great  mart  of  trade.  It  was  to  be 
expected  that  when  the  sails  of  Holland  were  upon  every  sea  there  would 
be  some  attempt  to  secure  a  hold  upon  America. 

1  Each  person  establishing  a  colony  of  fifty  persons  over  fifteen  years 
of  age  was  entitled  to  become  the  owner  and  ruler  of  a  strip  if  country  on 
the  banks  of  some  river  sixteen  miles  in  width,  or  eight  miles  where  both 
banks  were  occupied,  and  stretching  back  from  the  river  indefinitely. 

2  There  was  much  truth  in  the  complaints  of  some  of  the  colonists: 
"It  seems",  they  said,  "as  if  from  the  first  the  company  had  sought  to 
stock  this  land  with  their  own  employees,  which  was  a  great  mistake,  for 
when  their  time  was  out  they  returned  home,  taking  nothing  with  them 
except  a  little  in  their  purses  and  a  bad  name  for  the  country.  .  .  .  The 
directors  here,  though  far  from  their  masters,  were  close  by  their  profit". 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES— 1614-1700 


75 


The  Dutch  were  not  allowed  to  maintain  in  peace  their 
claim  to  all  this  wide  territory  in  which  they  planted  their  fur 
New  Sweden  stations;  other  nations  wanted  a  share.  In  1638 
the  Swedes  built  a  fort,  called  Fort  Christina, 
on  the  Delaware  River,  where  Wilmington  now  stands,  and 
called  the  adjoining  territory  New  Sweden.  The  Dutch 


A     ^  ^      O- 

EUROPEAN  POSSESSIONS  1650          o 

BASED  ON  EXPLORATIONS  AND  SETTLEMENT. 
LTD  ENGLISH  POSSESSIONS  r~l  DUTCH    POSSESSIONS 

l~~l  FRENCH  "  1~~1  SWEDISH  " 

I       I  SPANISH  " 


strenuously  objected  and  after  much  dispute  the  Swedes  yielded 
and  New  Sweden  disappeared. 


76 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


In  the  meantime,  the  New  Englanders,  strongly  objecting 
to  the  attempts  of  the  Dutch  to  build  forts  on  the  Connecticut, 
took  possession  of  the  country  themselves;  Dutch 
trading  companies   could   not   hold   out   against 
New  York.         such  settlers  as   entered  the  Connecticut  Valley 
from  the  older  settlements  of  the  coast.    And  then 
(1664)  war  broke  out  between  England  and  Holland,  an  Eng 
lish  fleet   appeared  in   the  harbor  before   New  Amsterdam, 


._:  =.  ST- 


-•^^-•t^-5ha 


PETER  STUYVESANT'S  HOUSE  IN  NEW  AMSTERDAM 

This  house  was  erected  in  1658  and  was  afterward  called  the 
White  Hall 

From  an  old  print  in  Valentine's  Manual 

and  the  control  of  the  great  river  passed  into  English 
hands.  Charles  II  gave  the  newly  acquired  territory  to  his 
brother  James,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  it  was  rechristened 
New  York. 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES— 1614-1700  77 

Under  English  rule  the  colony  on  the  Hudson  went  on  and 
gradually  took  on  the  form  of  government  that  the  other 
New  York  English  colonies  had.  In  1683  an  assembly  was 
provided  for,  and  after  the  Revolution  of  1688 
the  colony,  now  a  royal  colony  under  the  government  of 
England,  went  steadily  forward,  growing  in  population  and  in 
strength.1  It  is  hard  for  us  to  picture  to  ourselves  the  great 
state  of  New  York  and  its  mighty  city  as  they  were  at  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century — a  settlement  of  something  less 
than  twenty-five  thousand  souls,  some  of  them  traders  and  set 
tlers  up  the  river,  some  of  them  small  merchants  and  farmers 
on  Manhattan  and  in  its  immediate  neighborhood.  The  Dutch 
were  the  largest  landowners  and  they  still  retained  their  own 
dress  and  followed  their  own  customs  without  much  reference 
to  the  invading  Englishman.  The  steady,  conservative  spirit 
of  the  Hollander  doubtless  continued  to  influence  the  life  of  New 
York  for  many  decades;  but  even  at  this  early  day  men  of  many 
nations  had  come  hither.  It  had  become  a  "community  of 
many  tongues,  of  many  customs,  of  many  faiths". 

REFERENCES 

Short  accounts:  THWAITES,  The  Colonies,  pp.  196-210;  FISHER, 
The  Colonial  Era,  Chapter  IX;  LODGE,  Short  History,  pp.  285-302. 
Longer  accounts:  BANCROFT,  History,  Volume  I, pp. 475-527, 577-582; 
CHANNING,  History  of  the  United  States,  Volume  I,  Chapters  XVI, 
XVII,  Volume  II,  Chapter  H;TUCKERMAN,  Peter  Stuyvesant;  ROB 
ERTS,  New  York,  pp.  1-185;  ROOSEVELT,  New  York;  M.  W.  GOOD 
MAN,  A.  C.  ROYCE,  R.  PUTNAM,  Historic  New  York,  pp.  1-191;  FISKE, 
Dutch  and  Quaker  Colonies,  Volume  I. 

1  It  will  be  remembered  that  for  a  short  time  New  York  with  the  young 
colony  of  New  Jersey  at  the  south  were  placed  under  the  control  of  Andros. 
In  1688,  when  news  came  that  King  James  was  king  no  longer,  the  people 
drove  out  their  royal  deputy  in  New  York.  This  revolt  was  headed  by  an 
impetuous  German  by  the  name  of  Jacob  Leisler,  who,  once  in  the  lead, 
wished  to  remain  there,  and  assumed  the  powers  of  government,  which  he 
wielded  in  arbitrary  and  reckless  fashion.  When  the  new  governor  ap 
pointed  by  the  king  came  to  take  possession,  Leisler  hesitated  to  surrender 
the  colony.  This  he  was  soon  forced  to  do,  however,  and  soon  afterwards 
he  was  hanged  for  treason,  the  order  for  his  execution,  it  is  said,  being 
signed  by  the  governor  while  under  the  influence  of  drink. 


78  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


NEW    JERSEY — 1664-1700 

What  is  now  the  State  of  New  Jersey  was  part  of  the  terri 
tory  claimed  by  the  Dutch  under  the  name  of  New  Netherland. 
Before  the  English  seized  the  country  something  had  been  done 
to  settle  this  part,  although  it  had  not  developed,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  in  the  fifty  years  of  Dutch  occupancy.  The 
Duke  of  York,  as  proprietor  of  the  territory  newly  acquired, 
ceded  (1664)  this  southern  portion,  lying  between  the  Delaware 
River  and  the  sea,  to  Lord  John  Berkeley  and  Sir  George  Car- 

teret.  The  new  province  was  named  New  Cae- 
settiement  saria  or  New  Jersey,  in  honor  of  Carteret,  who  as 

governor  of  the  island  of  Jersey  had  heroically 
defended  it  against  the  Parliamentarians  during  the  great  re 
bellion.  The  proprietors  at  once  issued  a  document  known  as 
"the  Concessions",  which  outlined  a  form  of  government  and 
laid  down  various  rules  for  the  administration  of  the  colony; 
broad  and  liberal  in  its  terms,  it  was  cherished  by  the  people  as 
a  charter  of  liberties.  There  were  some  settlers  already  in  the 
province  who  had  come  in  under  the  Dutch  rule.  In  1665 
Philip  Carteret,  a  nephew  of  the  proprietor,  came  out  as  gov 
ernor,  bringing  with  him  a  small  body  of  Englishmen.  The 
settlement  thus  founded  was  given  the  name  of  Elizabeth,  in  honor 

of  Lady  Carteret.      Other  settlements  were  made 

The  Assembly.  ; .  . 

soon  after  this,  emigrants  from  the  other  colonies, 
especially  from  New  England,  coming  in  to  take  advantage 
of  the  privileges  offered  by  the  new  proprietors.  In  1668  an 
assembly  was  summoned,  and  the  legislative  history  of  New 
Jersey  was  begun. 

Berkeley,  growing  weary  of  the  troubles  involved  in  manag 
ing  the  colony,  sold  his  share  to  some  Quakers,  and  this  interest 

finally  passed  into  the  hands  of  William  Penn  and 
divided.00  a  ^ew  °^  n^s  associates.  About  this  time  (1674) 

the  colony  was  divided  into  two  parts,  Carteret 
obtaining  East  Jersey.  The  Quakers,  to  whom  fell  the  western 
portion,  now  entered  upon  the  task  of  legislation  and  control. 
Outcasts  and  outlaws  in  other  organized  states,  how  would  they 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES— 1614-1700 


79 


legislate  when  the  power  and  responsibility  came  into  their 
hands?  Their  first  acts  were  marked  by  a  generous  and  kindly 
spirit,  and  breathed  a  true  democracy.  "We  lay",  they  said, 
The  Quakers  "a  foundation  for  after  ages  to  understand  their 
in  West  New  liberty  as  Christians  and  as  men,  that  they  may 
jersey.  not  ^e  brought  into  bondage  but  by  their  own 

consent;  for  we  put  the  power  in  the  people".    Many  Quakers, 
glad  to  find  a  refuge  from 
oppression,  now  made  their 
way  to  the  new  colony. 

Shortly    after    this 

George  Carteret  died,  and 

his  rights  in 

EastN'wJ"sey' East  Jersey 
were  sold  to  Penn  and 
twenty-three  associates. 
These  associates  were  not 
all  Quakers;  there  were 
among  them  Presbyterians 
from  Scotland,  dissenters, 
and  Catholics.  Within  a 
few  years  many  Scotch 
came  over,  and  thus  began 
the  strong  Scotch  and 
Presbyterian  element  of 
New  Jersey.  In  the  mean 
time  there  had  been  great 
trouble  with  Andros,  the 
duke's  governor  in  New  EAST  JERSEY  AND  WEST  JERSEY 

York,  who  set  up  certain   showing  the  line  of  1687  (unfinished)  and 
claims    of    right    in   East  the  proposed  boundary 

Jersey,  and  could  not  re 
frain  from  annoying  interference  in  the  colony.     After  a  time 
the  rights  of  the  proprietors  were   acquired  by  the    crown 
(1702),  and  the  two  Jerseys  united  into  one  became  a  royal 
colony. 

The  history  of  New  Jersey  in  these  early  days  can  scarcely 


— ——.Proposed  Boundary 

Line  of  1687 

(Unfinished) 


80  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

be  called  interesting.  There  is  a  certain  lack  of  unity  and  pur 
pose  in  the  colony;  it  was  not  a  great  experiment  in  religion  and 
politics  like  New  England,  nor  had  it  the  picturesque  quali 
ties  of  the  southern  colonies.  Despite  legisla- 
^ve  wranglings  and  proprietary  disputes,  the 
colony  prospered  steadily  and  soberly,  growing  into 
a  substantial  commonwealth.  Farming  was  almost  the  sole  oc 
cupation,  and  all  through  the  next  century  the  colony  was  com 
mercially  dependent  on  New  York  or  on  the  more  prosperous 
and  vigorous  colony  which  grew  up  on  its  western  border. 

REFERENCES 

Short  accounts:  THWAITES,  The  Colonies,  pp.  210-215;  FISHER, 
The  Colonial  Era,  Chapter  X;  LODGE,  Short  History,  pp.  263-267; 
BANCROFT,  History,  Volume  I,  pp.  520-523  and  546-551,  also  Volume 
II,  pp.  3i~33;HiLDRETH,  Swfory,  Volume  II,  pp.  51-61  and  216-218; 
CHANNING,  History  of  the  United  States,  Volume  II,  Chapter  XI. 

PENNSYLVANIA  AND  DELAWARE — 1681-1700 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  Friends,  or  Quakers,  some 
of  whom  early  came  into  various  colonies,  and  were  there 
treated  with  great  harshness.  They  were  an  im- 
portant  element  in  English  colonization.  Three 
of  the  colonies,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Delaware,  were  built  up  largely  under  their  guidance  and  in 
fluence.  It  thus  happened  that  the  very  central  portion  of  the 
English  domain  in  America  felt  the  impress  of  the  beliefs  and 
ideals  of  these  people. 

The  religion  of  the  Society  of  Friends  had  its  beginnings  in 
the  mind  of  George  Fox,  the  son  of  an  English  weaver.  He  had 
George  FOX  keen  Placed  as  apprentice  with  a  shoemaker,  but 
his  master  was  also  engaged  in  keeping  sheep,  and 
George,  during  part  of  his  apprenticeship,  was  given  the  task 
of  watching  the  flocks,  a  business  well  suited  to  his  quiet 
spirit.  He  became  deeply  distressed  for  the  safety  of  his  soul; 
but  from  none  of  the  priests  or  preachers  could  he  find  help. 
Some  ridiculed,  some  abused  him;  none  were  able  to  bring  light 
to  the  darkened  soul  of  the  poor  shoemaker's  apprentice.  He 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES— 1614-1700  81 

seems  to  have  been  woefully  cast  down,  in  a  sort  of  ecstasy  of 
misery,  when  the  truth  began  to  dawn  upon  him  that  the  blind 
could  not  lead  the  blind,  that  "being  bred  at  Oxford  or  Cam 
bridge  was  not  enough  to  qualify  men  to  be  ministers  of  Christ", 
that  all  the  learning  of  the  universities  could  not  lead  a  man  to 
heaven.  "Thus  he  grew  to  a  knowledge  of  divine  things, 
without  the  help  of  any  man,  book,  or  writing",  and  there 
shone  as  into  his  very  inmost  soul  the  strong  truth  that  there 
is  a  living  God.  He  came  to  believe  that  each  person  is  given 
light  from  on  high,  that  every  one  is  called  upon  to  follow 
the  guidance  of  that  "inner  light".  These  words  contain  the 
Quaker's  creed.  "The  Quaker",  says  Bancroft,  "has  but  one 
word,  THE  INNER  LIGHT,  the  voice  of  God  in  the  soul.  That 
light  is  a  reality,  and  therefore  in  its  freedom  the  highest 
revelation  of  truth;  ...  it  shines  in  every  man's  breast,  and 
therefore  joins  the  human  race  in  the  unity  of  equal  rights".  1 
Fox  was  moved  to  preach,  and  soon  made  many  converts. 
Those  who  embraced  his  doctrines  became  in  turn  imbued  with 

the  desire  to  win  men  to  repentance.  Messen- 
the6  Quaker  sect.  &ers  °^  tne  new  faith  wandered  over  Europe, 

calling  upon  all  to  be  guided  by  the  light  in 
their  own  souls.  Fox  was  ridiculed,  beaten,  thrust  into  prison, 
but  his  courage  waxed  ever  stronger,  and  his  followers  rapidly 
increased.  Everywhere  the  Quakers  were  persecuted,  but  they 
persisted  in  the  faith.  The  courage  and  devotion  of  the  sect 
are  well  illustrated  by  the  story  that,  when  Fox  was  in  Lanceston 
jail,  one  of  his  people  called  upon  Cromwell  and  asked  to  be  im 
prisoned  in  his  stead.  "Which  of  you",  said  Cromwell,  turning 
to  his  council,  "would  do  as  much  for  me  if  I  were  in  the  same 
condition"  ? 

Quakerism  cherished  the   essence  of  democracy,  because 
one  of  its  necessary  beliefs  was  that  each  man  was  the  equal 

of  every  other.  Certain  manners  and  habits 
equality^!  men.  emphasized  this  kernel  of  their  creed.  They 

believed  there  should  be  no  distinctions  in  dress, 
no  difference  in  title,  no  unnecessary  elaboration  in  speech. 

1  Bancroft,  History,  vol.  i,  p.  535. 


82 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


William  Penn. 


The  hat  was  to  be  kept  on  the  head  before  the  most  august 
tribunal,  because  to  stand  uncovered  savored  of  the  homage 
due  to  God  alone.  Simple  language  with  "thee  and  thou" 
was  addressed  to  all  alike,  and  the  unadorned  coat  gave  no 
chance  for  superiority  in  apparel.  "My  Lord  Peter  and  My 
Lord  Paul  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  Bible;  My  Lord  Solon 
or  Lord  Scipio  is  not  to  be  read  in  Greek  or  Latin  stories". 

Among  the  followers  of  Fox  was  one  man  who  was  a  far 
greater  soul  than  the  founder  of  his  faith.  William  Penn  may 
justly  be  called  one  of  the  great  men  of  our  his 
tory.1  His  father  was  a  man  of  importance 
in  England  in  the  days  of  Charles  II  and  was  greatly  shocked 

when  his  son  joined  the  Quak 
ers — common  and  simple  people, 
most  of  them.  But  the  young 
man  clung  to  his  faith  and  suf 
fered  and  toiled  with  the  rest. 
In  spite  of  his  social  position 
he  was  many  times  in  prison; 
and  these  rough  experiences 
had  doubtless  their  effect  in 
deepening  his  sympathies  with 
the  poor  and  the  oppressed. 
Rude  schools  as  they  were,  the 
Old  Bailey  and  the  Tower  may 
have  given  him  broader  views 
of  life  and  led  him  to  see  with 
greater  clearness  the  needs  of 
men  and  the  crime  and  follies 
of  the  state. 

When  Penn's  father  died,  he  was  left  wealthy,  inheriting 

claims  on  the  Government  to  a  large  amount.    The  frivolous 

Penn's  colony.     Charles  II  had  no  zeal  for  paying  debts  in  cash, 

and  so  in  1681  Penn  received  in   satisfaction  of 

his  claim  a  vast  estate,  stretching  westward  from  the  Delaware 


1His  father,  Admiral  Penn,  had  won  distinction  by  the  capture  of 
Jamaica  and  stood  in  special  favor  at  court  because  he  had  helped  to  rein- 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES— 1614-1700  83 

River  through  five  degrees  of  longitude.1     The  king  gave  the 
name  of  Pennsylvania  to  the  province  in  honor  of  Penn's  father. 
Penn  had  powers  in  his  hands  as  proprietor  of  the  province, 
a  power  in  most  respects  like  that  of  Lord  Baltimore  in  Mary 
land  ;  but  he  planned  to  establish  a  free  common- 
Commonwealth   wealth  and  not  to  wait  till  privileges  were  wrested 
from  him.2       He  issued  the  "Frame  of  Govern 
ment",  a  generous  bestowal  of  powers  upon  the  people,  and 
the  colony  took  upon  itself  most  of  the  rights  and  burdens  of 
self  government.    The  "Frame"  proved  cumbrous  and  heavy 

state  the  Stuarts.  The  son,  while  a  student  at  Oxford,  was  much  affected 
by  the  teachings  of  the  Quakers.  Refusing  to  attend  the  religious  services 
of  the  University,  he  was  expelled  and  sent  home  in  disgrace.  He  now 
spent  some  time  on  the  Continent,  especially  in  Paris,  and  the  gayeties  of 
life  seem  for  a  time  to  have  banished  all  serious  inclination  from  his  mind. 
He  returned  to  England  in  1664,  and  thence  went  to  Ireland,  where  he 
came  under  the  influence  again  of  the  Quaker  preacher  who  had  won  such 
a  hold  upon  him  in  his  student  days.  He  was  then  fully  converted  to  the 
new  faith.  This  was  a  great  event  for  Quakerism,  because  converts  among 
the  wealthy  and  influential  had  been  very  few,  and  because  Penn  was  in 
himself  a  man  of  rare  vigor,  sweetness  and  ability. 

1  The  boundaries  of  Pennsylvania,  as  of  most  of  the  colonies,  were  later 
subject  to  dispute.    The  northern  line  had  to  be  agreed  upon  with  New 
York.    Connecticut  also  claimed  the  northern  portion,  and  this  gave  rise 
to  serious  disputes  in  later  years.    See  Fiske,  The  Critical  Period  of  Amer 
ican  History,  pp.  148-150;  McMaster,  History  of  the  People  of  the  United 
States,  vol.  i,  pp.  210-216. 

2  "And  because",  he  said,  "I  have  been  somewhat  exercised  at  times 
about  the  nature  and  end  of  government  among  men,  it  is  reasonable  to 
expect  that  I  should  endeavor  to  establish  a  just  and  righteous  one  in  this 
province.  .  .  .  For  the  nations  want  a  precedent".    And  again  he  wrote  to 
a  friend:  "For  the  matter  of  liberty  and  privilege,  I  propose  that  which  is 
extraordinary,  and  to  leave  myself  and  successors  no  power  of  doing  mis 
chief — that  the  will  of  one  man  may  not  hinder  the  good  of  an  whole  coun 
try".     The  same  broad  generosity  is  shown  in  the  letter  which  he  now 
issued  to  the  people  who  were  already  within  the  limits  of  his  grant:  "You 
shall  be  governed",  he  promised,  "by  laws  of  your  own  making,  and  live  a 
free  and,  if  you  will,  a  sober  and  industrious  people". 

His  broad  philosophy  is  seen  in  this  statement:  "Any  government  is 
free  to  the  people  under  it  (whatever  be  its  frame)  where  the  laws  rule,  and 
the  people  are  a  party  to  the  laws,  and  more  than  this  is  tyranny,  oligarchy 
or  confusion  .  .  .  Liberty  without  obedience  is  confusion,  and  obedience 
without  liberty  is  slavery". 


84  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

and  was  later  modified,  but  under  Penn's  wise  guidance  free 
institutions  were  shaped  to  the  real  needs  of  tfye  people. '  There 
was  not  always  perfect  peace  between  the  people  and  the  pro 
prietor,  or  between  the  people  and  the  governor  whom  he  ap 
pointed.  Differences  arose  which  were  a  great  annoyance  to 
Penn,  who  longed  for  harmony  and  hoped  that  the  colony 
would  be  an  example  to  the  nations.  But  as  the  people  had  a 
large  share  in  government,  they  relished  the  privilege  of  argu 
ment  and  dispute — perhaps  always  an  accompaniment  of 
freedom.  "For  the  love  of  God,  me  and  the  poor  country",  ex 
claimed  Penn,  amidst  the  political  disputes  that  arose,  "be  not 
so  governmentish,  so  noisy  and  open  in  your  dissatisfactions". 
But,  unfortunately  for  peace-loving  proprietors,  the  history 
of  America  was  to  be  the  history  of  a  "governmentish"  people. 
In  1682  Penn  became  possessed  of  New  Castle  and  the 
territory  lying  to  the  south  of  it.  This  land  he  acquired  from 

Delaware  the  Duke  °f  Y°rk'    Il:  Came  tO  be  Called  the  "Terri' 

tories",  while  Pennsylvania  was  known  as  the 
"Province".  For  some  time  these  two  communities  were  en 
rolled  under  one  government,  but  for  some  reason  each  was 
jealous  and  suspicious  of  the  other;  disputes  arose,  and  peace 
was  finally  secured  by  making  the  Territories  into  the  separate 
colony  of  Delaware  (1703). 

Penn's  colony  was  rapidly  peopled.  Emigrants  made  their 
way  hither  in  numbers;  a  city  was  marked  out  on  the  Schuyl- 
kill  and  named  Philadelphia,  the  city  of  brotherly 
love-  Manv  Germans  came  and  settled  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  soon  afterwards  other  national 
ities  also,  among  them  Scotch-Irish,  many  of  whom  pushed 
back  to  the  frontier  and  formed  a  strong  element  in  the 
western  part  of  the  province.1  Within  twenty  years  from 
the  settlement  of  Philadelphia,  says  a  writer  of  the  time, 
it  contained  many  stately  houses  and  "several  fine  squares  and 

1  The  Scotch-Irish  in  later  years,  descendants  of  these  men  or  new  set 
tlers,  drifted  down  the  valleys  of  the  Appalachians,  which  run  in  long  lines 
toward  the  southwest,  and  became  settlers  in  the  western  parts  of  the 
southern  colonies. 


THE  MIDDLE  COLONIES—  1614-1700  85 

courts  "  ;  between  the  principal  towns  the  "watermen  con 
stantly  ply  their  wherries"  and  "  there  are  no  beggars  to  be  seen, 
nor,  indeed,  have  any  the  least  temptation  to  take  up  that  scan- 

The  FRAME  of  tlie 

GOVERNMENT 

OF  THE 

of 


IN 

AMERICA' 

Together  with  certain 

L  A  W  S 

Agreed  upon  in  England 
BY  THE 

GOVERN  OUR 

AND 

Divers  F  R  E  E  -  M  E  N  of  the  aforefaid 
PROVINCE. 

To  be  furth-r  Explained  and  Confirmed  there  by  the  firlt 

Trovincial  CoMmi/and  (je  ne  ral  Ajfembly  that  (hall 

be  held,   if  they  fee  meet. 


Printed  in  die  Year  M  DC  LXXXII.  l 

1  Title-page  of  the  Frame  of  Government.  It  provided  for  a  council 
and  an  assembly,  to  be  elected  by  the  freemen,  and  one  third  of  the  mem 
bers  of  the  council  to  retire  annually.  Committees  were  also  provided  for. 
It  was  soon  changed  in  part;  but  these  provisions  are  noteworthy. 


86  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

dalous  life".  Untroubled  by  Indian  forays  and  attacks,  and 
unvexed  by  fear  of  the  French  as  were  the  men  of  the  North 
east,  Pennsylvania  grew,  and  the  settlements  were,  little  by 
little,  pushed  backward  into  the  wilderness.1  The  generous 
policy  of  religious  toleration,  thoroughly  in  keeping  with  the 
religion  of  the  Friends,  drew  many  a  man  from  Europe  to  the 
free  air  of  Pennsylvania;  and  under  the  spirit  of  Quaker  sim 
plicity,  which  bespoke  the  equality  of  men,  the  colony  waxed 
strong.2 

REFERENCES 

THWAITES,  The  Colonies,  pp.  207-217;  FISHER,  The  Colonial  Era, 
pp.  199-206;  LODGE,  Short  History,^.  205-226;  WINSOR,  Narrative 
and  Critical  History,  Volume  III,  Chapter  XII;  BANCROFT,  History, 
Volume  I,  pp.  528-573,  Volume  II,  pp.  62-75;  STOUGHTON,  William 
Penn,  The  Founder  of  Pennsylvania;  FISKE,  Dutch  and  Quaker  Colo 
nies,  Volume  II,  Chapters  XII,  XVI,  XVII;  ANDREWS,  Colonial  Self- 
government,  Chapters  XI-XII;  CHANNING,  History  of  the  United 
States,  Volume  II,  Chapter  IV;  SHARPLESS,  A  Quaker  Experiment  in 
Government. 

1  Of  course,  as  we  shall  see  later,  the  French  and  Indians  in  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  became  a  serious  menace  in  the  Alleghany  region 
in  the  western  part  of  the  colony;  but  for  years  after  the  settlement  there 
was  no  trouble.   The  absence  of  the  Indian  menace  was  partly  due,  probably, 
to  the  wise  teachings  of  Penn  and  his  early  efforts  at  friendliness.    But  the 
situation  of  Pennsylvania  was  different  from  that  of  the  northern  colonies 
and  even  of  Virginia;  and  we  should  be  wrong  if  we  thought  that  the  stern 
New  Englander  or  the  New  York  settlers  were  peculiarly  harsh  in  their 
treatment  of  the  red  man. 

2  Penn  was  for  a  time  (1692-94)  deprived  of  his  province  by  the  author 
ities  in  England,  but  it  was  returned  to  him  again. 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  COLONIES  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 

At  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  English 
dominion  stretched  from  east  of  the  Kennebec  to  the  Savannah; 
its  western  border  was  the  Allegheny  range.  As 
^e^  no  adventurous  pioneer  had  dared  to  make  a 
settlement  in  the  great  valley  beyond  the  moun 
tains.  On  the  northeast  the  claims  of  England  extended 
into  the  territory  which  France  asserted  was  hers,  and  on 
the  south  Spain  claimed  title  to  all  the  territory  at  least  as 
far  north  as  the  Savannah,  while  the  English  claimed  south 
ward  to  the  St.  John's.  We  shall  see  how  the  English  estab 
lished  a  colony  in  the  region  south  of  the  Savannah  (1733),  and 
how  through  the  efforts  of  Oglethorpe  the  land  was  held  for  Eng 
land.  By  the  middle  of  the  century  Spain's  possessions  in  the 
eastern  part  of  North  America  were  confined  to  Florida  alone. 
With  France,  however,  England  had  still  to  wage  a  mighty 
struggle.  Until  near  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century 
there  had  been  no  good  reason  for  conflict  between 
England?™  tne  two  nations,  for  the  continent  was  large  enough 
for  the  settlements  of  both  countries,  and  the  colo 
nists  of  the  one  did  not  come  into  contact  with  those  of  the 
other.  But,  as  the  years  went  by,  the  rivalry  grew  more  and 
more  intensely  bitter,  and  all  questions  of  colonial  policy  and 
growth  were  more  or  less  influenced  by  this  international  jeal 
ousy  and  hatred.  War  succeeded  war,  and  in  the  intervals  of 
peace  each  nation  narrowly  watched  the  other.  These  wars 
were  partly  caused  by  religious  differences  and  by  the  political 
problems  of  Europe;  but  they  were  caused  also  by  the  fact  that 
both  the  nations  were  seeking  to  secure  great  possessions  in 
America.  France  and  England  were  natural  rivals  because  of 
their  colonial  ambitions. 

87 


Intercolonial 
wars. 


88  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

From  whatever  point  of  view  one  studies  the  colonial  his 
tory  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  must  needs  have  these  inter 
colonial  wars  and  this  intercolonial  rivalry  as  a 
background.  We  must  remember  that  New  Eng 
land  grew  and  prospered  and  reached  out  for  more 
territory  to  be  filled  with  thriving  towns,  while  the  French  and 
their  Indian  allies  were  lurking  on  her  borders  and  watching 
her  progress  with  malice  in  their  hearts.  We  must  remember 
that  in  some  of  the  colonies  disputes  arose  between  the  gov 
ernor  and  the  popular  assembly  over  the  question  of  supply  or 
preparation  for  war,  and  that  each  dispute  gave  to  the  colo 
nists  practice  in  declaring  their  rights  and  privileges.  We  must 
remember,  too,  that  the  colonies  felt  their  dependence  on  Eng 
land,  because  of  the  presence  of  an  enemy  on  their  frontier. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  century  the  political  history  of 

each  colony  is  very  similar  to  that  of  every  other.    It  is  a  story 

of  petty  quarrels  between  the  assembly  and  the 

Political  governor,  of  incessant  disputes  over  some  matter 

character  of  .    .  .          .    .  , 

these  years.  apparently  trivial,  but  yet  involving,  as  the  colonists 
thought,  some  question  of  principle  or  some  real  sub 
stantial  right.  The  hapless  governor  was  often  between  two 
fires.1  On  the  one  side  were  the  stubborn  colonists  absolutely  re 
fusing  concession  and  demanding  new  privileges ;  on  the  other  side 
he  had  clear  instructions  from  the  proprietors  or  royal  authority 
directing  him  not  to  grant  what  the  colonists  wished.  But 
these  quarrels  and  disputes  were  evidences  of  a  persistent  spirit 
of  self-government.  For  these  contests  did  not  consist  of  vio 
lent  uprisings;  they  were  mere  wordy  disputes  carried  on  with 
the  formalities  of  legal  language  and  with  the  studied  decorum 
of  debate. 

It  is  important  to  notice  that  the  development  of  the  Amer 
ican  colonists  through  this  period  followed  the  lines  already 
Self-taxation       marked  out  by  the  progress  of  the  mother  country. 
The  assembly  or  lower  house  of  the  colonial  legis 
lature  strove  to  obtain  full  control  over  the  purse.     When 

1  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  elected  their  own  governor,  and   he 
was  of  course  not  a  representative  of  a  power  outside. 


COLONIES  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY         89 

this  hold  was  secured,  or  nearly  so,  it  demanded  redress  of 
grievances  and  new  privileges  on  pain  of  a  refusal  of  supply. 
It  said  to  the  governor,  "  Cease  this  or  that  practice,  or  else  we 
will  cease  to  pay  your  salary".  Thus  the  right  of  self -taxation 
became  the  basis  of  many  other  rights,  and  was  looked  upon  by 
the  colonists  as  the  most  fundamental  of  them  all.  Edmund 
Burke,  the  great  English  orator  and  statesman,  in  his  Speech 
on  Conciliation  with  America,  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
speeches  ever  delivered,  thus  speaks  of  this  love  of  the  colonists 
for  the  principle  of  self -taxation,  a  principle  which  the  experi 
ences  of  the  whole  eighteenth  century  strongly  confirmed:  "The 
people  of  the  colonies  are  descendants  of  Englishmen.  .  .  .  The 
colonies  draw  from  you,  as  with  their  life  blood,  these  ideas  and 
principles.  Their  love  of  liberty,  as  with  you,  is  fixed  and  at 
tached  on  this  specific  point  of  taxing.  Liberty  might  be  safe 
or  might  be  endangered  in  twenty  other  particulars  without 
their  being  much  pleased  or  alarmed.  Here  they  felt  its  pulse; 
and  as  they  found  that  beat,  they  thought  themselves  sick  or 
sound".  l 

So  this  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  passed  away, 
uneventfully  on  the  whole — illustrating  the  truth  of  the  old 
saying,  " Blessed  is  the  country  that  has  no  annals".  On  the 
north  and  west  the  borders  were  time  and  again  beset  by  wander 
ing  parties  of  French  and  Indians.  The  outbreak 
progress.  °  °^  actual  war  caused  some  excitement,  and  brought 
almost  surely  a  dispute  with  some  ambitious  gov 
ernor  over  increased  supply  or  new  authority.  But  the  signs 
of  the  times  are  a  steady  development  in  the  arts  and  practices 
of  self-government,  a  slow  but  sure  advancement  in  industrial 
prosperity,  a  quiet  and  sober  progress  toward  a  self-sufficient 
and  independent  life. 

1  In  Pennsylvania,  for  instance,  there  was  a  contest  about  money  mat 
ters  and  the  right  to  tax  the  proprietor's  lands,  even  when  the  Indians  and 
the  French  on  the  frontier  threatened  the  very  life  of  the  colony.  When 
the  governor  pleaded,  they  would  not  yield,  quietly  remarking  that  "they 
had  rather  the  French  should  conquer  them  than  give  up  their  privileges". 
"Truly",  wrote  the  Governor  of  Virginia,  "I  think  they  have  given  their 
senses  a  long  holiday". 


90  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

"When  we  have  recounted  the  wars  with  France  and  the 
perils  of  the  frontier,  traced  the  growth  of  the  people  in  indus 
trial  strength,  watched  the  occasional  effort  of 
the  Tent CntS  °f  roya^  governor  or  proprietary  official  to  get  some 
contribution  the  people  did  not  want  to  surren 
der,  noted  the  fitful  attempts  on  the  part  of  the  English  Board 
of  Trade,  which  had  an  oversight  over  the  colonies,  to  bring 
about  what  it  considered  order  and  system,  we  have  con 
sidered  the  main  events  of  the  half-century.  In  Massachu 
setts  for  years  there  was  a  struggle  over  the  question  whether 
the  governor  should  be  given  a  permanent  salary  or  only 
get  what  the  legislature  granted  him  each  year.  Connecticut 
and  Rhode  Island  were  long  stirred  up  over  the  prospect 
of  losing  their  belovea  charters  and  of  being  brought  directly 
under  the  crown.  New  York,  perhaps  more  than  other  colonies, 
was  vexed  and  harried  at  times  by  rapacious  governors.1  Penn 
sylvania,  free  from  every  serious  interference  by  the  proprie 
tors,  was  engaged  in  party  disputes,  not  unlike  the  heated  party 
discussions  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

1  Prominent  among  the  royal  governors  of  New  York  was  one  Cosby 
(1732-36),  a  money  getter,  a  boisterous,  irritable  fellow,  tactless  and  devoid 
of  both  decorum  and  virtue.  A  man  named  Zenger  published  in  his  paper 
some  criticisms  of  the  governor,  declaring  that  the  people  of  New  York 
"think  that  slavery  is  likely  to  be  entailed  upon  them  and  their  posterity 
if  some  things  be  not  amended".  Thereupon  the  paper  was  ordered  burned 
and  Zenger  was  cast  into  prison  and  brought  to  trial  for  criminal  libel. 
The  lawyer  who  defended  him  admitted  that  the  articles  in  question  had 
been  published  but  asserted  that  they  were  true  and  not  false  or  scandal 
ous.  "A  free  people",  said  the  bold  lawyer,  Andrew  Hamilton,  "are  not 
obliged  by  any  law  to  support  a  governor  who  goes  about  to  destroy  a  prov 
ince".  He  pointed  to  the  abuses  of  the  executive  power,  and  warned  the 
jury  that  it  was  "not  the  cause  of  a  poor  printer  alone,  nor  of  New  York 
alone.  No!  It  may  in  its  consequences  affect  every  freeman  that  lives 
under  a  British  government  on  the  main  of  America".  He  called  upon  them 
to  protect  the  liberty  "to  which  Nature  and  the  laws  of  our  country  have 
given  us  a  right,  the  liberty  both  of  exposing  and  opposing  arbitrary  power 
in  these  parts  of  the  world,  at  least,  by  speaking  and  writing  the  truth". 
Zenger  was  acquitted,  and  Hamilton,  who  was  a  Pennsylvanian,  was  given 
the  freedom  of  the  city  in  a  gold  snuff  box.  These  were  pretty  evident 
straws  to  show  which  way  the  wind  was  blowing  in  New  York. 


COLONrES  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURA         91 

Maryland,  entering  year  by  year  into  one  contest  or  another 
with  the  proprietor  or  his  governor,  won,  little  by  little,  greater 
power  for  its  assembly.1  Virginia,  in  the  hands  of  the  big 
planters  under  a  royal  governor,  practiced  in  considerable  de 
gree  the  principle  of  self-government,  and,  as  the  plantations 
were  spreading  far  and  near  over  the  land,  prepared  for  the  day 
when  the  leaders  should  play  a  conspicuous  role  in  winning 
independence  and  setting  up  new  institutions.  North  Caro 
lina  and  South  Carolina,  thrusting  aside  proprietary  govern 
ment  altogether,  became  royal  colonies  (iy29).2  In  the  region 
far  to  the  south  a  new  colony  was  established,  Georgia.  And 

1  Maryland  was  not  the  only  proprietary  colony,  but  only  Pennsylvania 
in  addition  lived  through  as  a  proprietary  colony  until  the  Revolution,  and 
Pennsylvania  started  with  so  much  power  in  the  settlers'  hands  that  it  does 
not  illustrate  so  well  as  Maryland  the  influence  of  American  life.    It  is  inter 
esting  to  see  Maryland  gradually  throwing  off  the  wrappings  of  the  old- 
fashioned  feudal  order,  which  Baltimore's  charter  contemplated,  and  becom 
ing  a  colony  competent  and  strong,  and  full  of  the  principles  of  American 
life. 

2  South  Carolina  had  grown  quickly  into  a  staid  community.    Charles- 
town  was  already  a  thriving  little  place,  the  home  of  the  planters  of  the 
interior,  who  often  left  their  plantations  to  be  cultivated  by  slaves  while 
they  enjoyed  the  pleasures  of  town  life.    They  were  men  of  force  and  abil 
ity,  many  of  them  educated  gentlemen,  and  they  felt  quite  competent  to 
manage  their  own  affairs  without  great  deference  to  the  proprietors.    Such 
a  condition  of  affairs  could  bring  but  one  result.    The  people  formed  "an 
association  to  stand  by  their  rights  and  privileges",  and  the  popular  assem 
bly  took  the  reins  into  its  own  hands  and  refused  to  be  ruled  longer  by  a 
set  of  non-resident  proprietors.    This  practical  revolution  (1719)  was  not 
made  a  legal  fact  until  ten  years  after  the  first  revolt.    Then  the  proprie 
tors  gave  up  their  charter,  and  South  Carolina  became  a  royal  colony. 

North  Carolina  did  not  throw  off  the  proprietary  yoke  when  her  south 
ern  neighbor  rebelled,  but  she  too  became  a  royal  colony  in  1729.  Her  pop 
ulation  grew  rapidly,  but  the  people  were  not  so  progressive  as  those  of 
either  Virginia  or  South  Carolina.  Without  convenient  harbors,  the  people 
had  little  or  no  communication  with  the  outside  world,  even  the  tobacco 
crop  being  carried  to  Virginia  for  transportation  abroad.  For  this  and 
other  reasons  life  was  primitive  and  simple;  printing  was  not  introduced 
until  about  the  middle  of  the  century,  and  schools  were  almost  unknown. 
Among  such  a  people  we  ought  not  to  expect  a  great  knowledge  of  the  art 
of  politics;  yet  here  too  the  colonists  showed  some  capacity  for  managing 
their  own  affairs,  and  were  growing  steadily  into  an  appreciation  of  the 
problems  and  principles  of  self-government. 


92  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

thus  year  by  year  and  decade  by  decade,  England's  dominion 
in  the  New  World  grew  strong,  filling  up  with  a  self-reliant  peo 
ple,  who,  though  often  charged  with  aiming  at  independence  or 
at  wilful  neglect  of  England's  rights  of  management  and  con 
trol,  were  loyal  to  the  mother  country  if  impatient  of  dictation 
or  interference. 

Two  marked  features  of  the  time  should  be  added  to  this 
broad  picture,  (i)  Around  the  royal  governor  or  the  represen 
tative  of  the  proprietor  there  was  likely  to  be 
a  c^ass  °^  favorites  loving  social  distinction,  bask 
ing  in  the  presence  of  the  high  officials  and 
putting  on  English  airs.  Most  of  them  were  harmless,  prob 
ably,  but  the  whole  situation  often  unpleasantly  reminded 
the  simpler  American  of  a  superior  power  across  the  sea  or 
made  him  impatient  of  the  existing  conditions.  (2)  While  the 
colonies  near  the  sea  were  settling  down  into  old  established 
communities,  the  movement  into  the  back  country  went  stead 
ily  on.  Primitive  America  was  showing  itself  over  and  over 
again  on  the  frontier,  where  there  were  no  royal  favorites  and 
where  class  distinctions  were  unknown.  This  movement,  grad 
ual  and  persistent,  into  the  western  parts  of  the  older  settle 
ments,  into  the  backwoods,  went  on  everywhere,  but  possibly 
of  chief  interest  is  the  filling  up  of  the  upland  country  of  the 
South,  into  which  many  people  found  their  way  by  wandering 
down  the  long,  wide  valleys  or  troughs  of  the  Appalachians, 
whence,  before  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  men  passed 
into  the  forests  of  the  great  Mississippi  valley. 

The  difference  between  the  men  of  the  older  sections  and 
the  new  settlers  of  the  back-country  was  in  all  the  colonies 
more  or  less  evident;  but  in  the  South  the  contrast 
was  especially  plain.  In  Virginia  and  South  Carolina 
were  two  strongly  contrasted  societies :  —  on  the 
tide- water  rivers  a  race  of  planters  dressing  richly,  owning  large 
estates,  riding  in  coaches,  and  living  in  a  sort  of  baronial  style;  in 
the  farther  upland,  hardy  settlers  clearing  the  land,  building  log 
houses,  planting  corn  or  little  patches  of  tobacco  in  the  wilder 
ness;  and,  still  farther  on,  the  bold  frontiersman,  the  vanguard, 


COLONIES  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 


93 


the  leaders  of  the  slow  but  steady  movement  toward  the  set 
ting  sun.    There  is  little  resemblance  in  life  and  habits  between 


In  1682      X 


In  1692 


In  1730 


PROPRIETARY  GOVERNMENT. 
ROYAL  GOVERNMENT 


I        I 


GOVERNMENT  BY  CHARTER. 


COLONIAL  GOVERNMENTS  DISTINGUISHED 

the  wealthy  planter  and  the  man  of  the  back  country.  The 
planter  is  waited  upon  by  slaves;  the  frontiersman  must  defend 
himself  and  earn  his  own  hard  livelihood.  Yet  both  are  Amer- 


94  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

leans  and  both  are  devoted  to  liberty.  The  planter,  accustomed 
to  rule  others  as  well  as  himself,  will  not  brook  restraint.  The 
pioneer  breathes  in  freedom  with  every  draught  of  mountain  air. 

GEORGIA — 1732-1765 

We  must  give  a  word  or  two  to  the  settlement  of  Georgia, 
though  the  colony,  settled  late,  did  not  loom  large  in  the  colo 
nial  affairs  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Spain  held  Florida  but 
had  done  little  or  nothing  in  the  way  of  settlement,  contenting 
herself  with  watching  England's  growth  with  jealous  eyes  and 
continuing  to  claim  the  land  as  her  own  far  north  of  her  actual 
possessions.  Sixty  years  after  the  settlement  of  South  Carolina 
there  was  no  English  settlement  south  of  the  Savannah.  In 
this  region,  James  Oglethorpe,  a  member  of  the  English  parlia 
ment,  "a  gentleman  of  unblemished  character,  brave,  generous, 
and  humane",  proposed  to  establish  a  colony.  He  saw  the 
desirability  of  founding  a  settlement  in  the  country  south  of 
the  Carolinas 1  and  holding  it  for  England.  At  this  time  in 
England  persons  were  imprisoned  for  a  debt  and  hanged  for 
a  petty  theft.  Each  year,  we  are  told,  at  least  four  thousand 
unhappy  men  were  shut  up  in  prison  because  of  the  misfortune 
of  poverty.  The  jails  were  wretched,  woe-begone  places,  scenes 
of  misery  and  often  of  horror.  Oglethorpe  proposed  to  carry 
away  these  luckless  captives  to  America,  and  there  to  found  a 
colony  where  they  might  have  a  chance  to  get  ahead  in  the 
world.  Oglethorpe  and  several  other  persons  were  constituted 
"  trustees  for  the  establishing  the  colony  of  Georgia  in  America". 
The  king  granted  them  a  charter  and  vested  them  with  com 
plete  power. 

Oglethorpe  was  chosen  to  lead  the  expedition,  and  set  sail 
for  America  with  a  number  of  colonists  in  the  latter  part  of  1732. 
In  February  of  the  next  year  he  founded  Savan- 
na^-    Other  settlers  soon  followed,  among  them  a 
number  of  German  Protestants,   who  had   been 
persecuted  at  home  for  their  religion.     These   people   were 

1  England  had  established  weak  military  outposts  there,  but  there  was 
no  settlement. 


COLONIES  IN  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY        95 

thrifty  and  industrious,  and  did  much  for  the  colony.    But  the 

shiftless  debtors  that  were  brought  over  do  not  seem  to  have 

learned  how  to  work.    A  few  years  later  still  other  emigrants 

arrived,  among  them  Moravians  and  Lutherans  from  Germany. 

Georgia  developed  slowly.    The  rule  of  Oglethorpe  was  just, 

but  as  the  time  went  on  the  regulations  of  the  trustees  became 

very  obnoxious  to  the  settlers.    In  1752  the  trus- 

orthc'coiony.  tees  Save  UP  tne*r  cnarter  to  tne  Crown,  and 
Georgia  became  a  royal  colony.  A  legislature  was 
established,  and  in  administration  and  political  form  Georgia 
became  similar  to  the  other  colonies.  From  this  time  on  the 
colony  grew  more  rapidly,  and  acquired  stability  and  strength; 
but  when  the  troubles  with  England  began,  and  America  was 
drawn  into  war  against  the  mother  country,  Georgia  was  still  a 
backward  province;  its  people  had  had  little  practice  in  self- 
government,  and,  as  we  might  expect,  played  no  very  conspic 
uous  part  in  the  struggle  for  political  and  civil  liberty. 

Everywhere  throughout  America  in  the  eighteenth  century 
there  developed  the  spirit  of  liberty  and  capacity  for  self-gov 
ernment.    The  colonies  waxed  powerful  and  rich, 
Material  pros-    iosing  an  the  appearance  of  struggling  frontier 
racy.  settlements.     Great  plantations  covered  the  low 

land  country  of  the  South;  farms  and  simple 
homesteads  were  made  here  and  there  in  the  northern  region; 
Yankee  fishermen  dared  the  perils  of  the  ocean  in  their  trim 
little  vessels;  merchants  and  traders  gathered  in  the  larger 
towns  and  cities  of  the  middle  colonies  and  New  England;  and 
ever  and  always  the  hardy  frontiersman  was  pushing  the  fron 
tier  on  into  the  wilderness  and  back  to  the  mountains.  And 
with  this  growth  there  came  a  strong  sense  of  popular  rights,  the 
feeling  of  manly  independence,  which  was  the  firm  foundation  of 
the  coming  democracy. 

REFERENCES 

Short  accounts:  THWAITES,  The  Colonies,  Chapter  XIV;  FISHER, 
The  Colonial  Era,  Part  II;  BANCROFT,  History.  Volume  II,  pp.  3-85, 
238-280;  LODGE,  Short  History,  passim. 


96 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Longer  Accounts:  GREENE,  Provincial  America  (use  index); 
CHANNING,  History  of  the  United  States,  Volume  II. 

FOR  GEORGIA. — Short  accounts:  THWAITES,  The  Colonies,  pp.  258, 
263;  FISHER,  The  Colonial  Era,  pp.  303-313.  An  interesting  account 
of  Oglethorpe  is  to  be  found  in  Bruce,  James  Edward  Oglethorpe 
(notice  especially  Chapters  III,  IV,  and  VIII).  BANCROFT,  History, 
Volume  II,  pp.  280-299. 


VIEW  OF  CHRIST  CHURCH,  BOSTON, 

On  the  spire  of  which  Paul  Revere  hung  lanterns  to  announce  the  arrival  oi 
the  British  troops 


CHAPTER   VI 
FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND  — 1608-1763 

Soon  after  the  accession  of  William  III  to  the  throne  of 
England  war  was  begun  with  France.  This  was  in  1689,  and 
for  the  next  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  years 
the  two  countries  were  in  continual  enmity,  often 
in  open  war.  This  long  struggle  has  been  named 
not  inaptly  the  "second  hundred  years'  war".1  The  nations 
were  natural  rivals.  They  differed  in  their  ambitions  in  Euro 
pean  politics;  each  had  hopes  of  wide  dominion  in  America, 
and  their  claims  conflicted.  From  our  point  of  view  these  con 
tests  mean  but  this:  they  were  to  decide  which  nation  was 
the  more  vigorous,  virile  and  sound,  which  nation  was  so 
made  up  in  its  moral  and  physical  fiber  and  in  its  political  talent 
that  it  would  succeed  in  securing  America  to  itself.  The  prize 
was,  above  all,  that  great  central  valley  of  our  country — a  noble 
prize  indeed,  as  fertile  a  space  for  its  size  as  the  globe  shows, 
capable  of  sustaining  two  hundred  million  inhabitants,  trav 
ersed  by  mighty  rivers,  free  from  impassable  mountain  chains, 
a  place  which  Nature  seems  to  have  fashioned  as  the  home  of  a 
single  people.  And  so  in  the  history  of  the  world  these  wars 
mean  much;  they  were  not  petty  squabbles  between  kings  and 
princes,  but  the  struggles  of  nations  for  empire.  Before  the 
hundred  years  were  gone,  a  great  portion  of  the  prize  had  fallen 
to  England  and  a  part  again  had  been  wrested  from  her  by  her 
rebellious  colonies;  and  yet  from  the  accession  of  William  III 
to  the  downfall  of  Napoleon  the  enmity  of  the  two  great  nations 
may  be  said  to  have  sprung  from  their  colonial  ambitions. 

1  Seeley,  Expansion  of  England,  Lecture  II.     Seeley's  positions  are 
somewhat  extreme,  but  the  book  is  profoundly  interesting  and  suggestive. 

97 


98  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Let  us  trace  out  the  early  expansion  of  French  power  in 

America.     We  have  seen  that  early  in  the  sixteenth  century 

explorers  from  France  sailed  along  the  coast  and 

to  Mforiuton.  that  eff°rts  were  made  to  settle  on  the  banks  of 
the  St.  Lawrence.  But  the  efforts  of  these  years 
only  prepared  the  way  for  the  successes  of  the  next  century; 
not  till  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  was  France 
ready  to  take  up  great  plans  of  colonization. 

The  first  dauntless  leader  was  Samuel  de  Champlain.    He 

explored  the  coast. of  New  England,  and  finally  (1608)  founded 

Quebec.    Thus  the  French  acquired  a  permanent 

Champlain.  Vd 

abiding  place  at  the  north  in  a  position  of  great 
military  strength,  on  the  river  that  afforded  a  highway  to  the 
Great  Lakes  and  to  the  great  valley  beyond.  Champlain  con 
tinued  his  discoveries  to  the  south  and  west.  He  discovered 
the  lake  which  bears  his  name  in  1609,  and  later  made  his  way 
westward  as  far  as  Lake  Huron.  Until  his  death,  in  1635,  he 
labored  ceaselessly  in  exploration  and  was  the  moving  spirit  in 
colonial  enterprise. 

But  Champlain  made  one  grievous  blunder,  which  in  time 
brought  woe  to  French  colonists.  In  1609,  in  company  with  a 
war  party  of  Algonquin  Indians,  he  made  his  way  southward 
His  expedition  from  Quebec,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  which 
against  the  now  bears  his  name  attacked  and  routed  a  band 
iroquois.  Q£  jroquojs<  A  similar  expedition  a  few  years 

later  was  not  so  successful,  and  the  only  result  of  espousing  the 
cause  of  the  Algonquins  against  their  ancient  foe  was  to  make 
the  warriors  of  the  Five  Nations  the  inveterate  enemies  of  the 
French. 

The  Iroquois  were  a  powerful  and  capable  race.  All  the 
tribes  of  the  North  and  East  stood  in  dread  of  them.  As  far 

west  as  the  Mississippi,  as  far  east  as  Maine,  as 
nations*  *ar  sout^  as  the  Carolinas,  they  were  known  and 

feared.  They  are  said  to  have  called  Lake  Cham- 
plain  the  gateway  of  the  country.  Such  it  may  be  said  to  be 
to-day.  It  forms  with  the  Hudson  a  line  of  communication  with 
the  Atlantic;  it  is  the  road  to  Canada  from  the  south.  Hence 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763  99 

in  all  wars  between  the  nation  that  possesses  Canada  and  that 
which  holds  the  Atlantic  coast  this  valley  must  be  a  place  of 
great  strategic  importance.  The  Iroquois  seem  to  have  felt 
the  strength  of  their  position. 


DEFEAT  OF  THE  IROQUOIS.    FROM  CHAMPLAIN'S  VOYAGES,  1613 

These  people  were  now  made  by  Champlain's  action  the 
enduring  enemies  of  the  French.  uFor  over  a  century  the  Iro 
quois  found  no  pastime  equal  to  rendering  life  in 
Canada  miserable".  The  Dutch  of  New  York, 
more  fortunate,  made  friends  with  these  tribes 
and  when  the  Dutch  were  supplanted  by  the  English  they,  too, 
for  some  years  held  the  Iroquois  as  allies.  Thus  the  settlements 
of  the  middle  Atlantic  coast  were,  in  their  earlier  years,  pro 
tected  from  French  attack  by  this  living  barrier,  the  Iroquois 
—a  barrier  impassable  by  French  war  parties.  Moreover,  part 
ly  because  of  the  Iroquois,  the  French  made  their  explorations 
into  the  west  and  northwest  rather  than  to  the  south  and  south 
west.  Lake  Superior  was  known  before  Lake  Erie,  and  the 
Mississippi  had  been  traversed  before  the  waters  of  the  Ohio 
were  known.  In  consequence,  for  a  long  time  the  French  and 
English  settlements  diverged,  the  French  occupying  positions 
on  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  rivers  of  the  far  West  long  before 


100 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


they  dared  to  come  near  the  English  by  occupying  places  imme 
diately  beyond  the  mountains.  The  great  and  concluding  strug 
gle  between  France  and  England  did  not  come  till,  under  dif 
ferent  conditions,  the  authorities  of  Canada  tried  to  take  and 
hold  the  strategic  points  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Ohio 
Valley. 

The  seventeenth  century  is  a  picturesque  period  in  the  his 
tory  of  Canada.  Bold  adventurers  and  soldiers,  brave  and 
patient  priests,  hardy  fur  traders  and  restless  rov- 
ers>  a11  did  their  Part  in  exploring  the  great  West, 
carrying  the  lilies  of  France,  the  cross  of  the  church, 
or  the  brandy  and  gewgaws  of  the  merchant  into  the  remote 
solitudes  of  the  interior.  As  early  as  1634  Jean  Nicollet  was  in 


^^^-^^^gifaT^^ 


The  Joliet  map  here  given  is  "probably  the  earliest  map  to  define  the  course 
of  the  Mississippi  by  actual  observation,  although  Joliet  connected  it  with 
the  Gulf  merely  by  an  inference".  Confer  Winsor,  Cartier  to  Frontenac, 
p.  247.  The  above  is  a  simplified  sketch  of  the  original 

Wisconsin  and  Illinois.  A  few  years  later  Jesuit  priests  preached 
their  faith  before  two  thousand  naked  savages  at  the  falls  of 
Ste.  Marie.  Soon  after  this  Allouez  began  a  mission  in  this 
same  region,  and  for  thirty  years  he  passed  from  tribe  to  tribe  in 
that  far-off  wilderness,  preaching  and  exhorting  and  striving 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763  101 

to  implant  his  faith.  Marquette  gathered  the  Indians  about 
him  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  passed  even  to  the  farther  end  of 
Lake  Superior,  seeking  to  win  souls  for  the  Church.  St.  Lusson 
(1671),  at  the  Sault,  with  solemn  ceremony  before  a  motley 
concourse  of  braves,  proclaimed  the  sovereign  title  of  the  great 
monarch  of  France  to  all  the  surrounding  lands,  "in  all  their 
length  and  breadth,  bounded'on  the  one  side  by  the  seas  of  the 
North  and  West,  and  on  the  other  by  the  South  Sea".  In  1673 
Joliet  and  Marquette  paddled  up  the  Fox  River  in  their  birch 
canoes,  floated  down  the  Wisconsin,  and  came  out  on  the  broad 
waters  of  the  Mississippi.  Descending  even  beyond  the  Mis 
souri,  they  returned  by  way  of  the  Illinois  and  the  Chicago 
portage.  But  most  conspicuous  among  these  bold  explorers  is 
Robert  Cavalier  de  la  Salle,  a  marvel  of  a  man,  resolute,  brave, 
inflexible  of  purpose.  Danger,  disappointment,  hardships, 
treachery,  beset  him,  but  he  overcame  them  all  and  effected 
his  object.  In  the  year  1682  his  little  flotilla  of  canoes  floated 
down  the  Mississippi  to  its  mouth,  and  La  Salle  took  possession 
of  the  vast  valley  in  the  name  of  Louis  XIV. 

Thus  the  dauntless  French  explorers  had  traversed  the  great 
West,  while  the  English  settlements  nestled  close  to  the  Atlan 
tic  seaboard,   almost  within  sound  of  the  surf, 

New  France.        _, 

r  ranee  possessed  the  two  great  gateways  and 
highways  to  the  interior  of  the  continent.1  And  thus  New 
France  was  founded  with  its  two  heads,  as  Parkman  has 
said,  one  in  the  canebrakes  of  Louisiana  and  the  other  in  the 
snows  of  Canada.  The  first  settlement  in  Louisiana  was  in 
1699,  and  New  Orleans  was  founded  in  1718.  By  this  time 
little  groups  of  Frenchmen  had  settled  down  upon  the  banks  of 
the  Western  rivers.  Here  and  there  a  fort  was  built.  Detroit 


1  It  should  be  noticed  that  the  English  were  hemmed  in  between  the 
mountains  and  the  sea.  While  the  mountains  acted  as  a  barrier  to  the 
extension  of  the  English  colonies,  they  also  served  to  protect  the  settlers 
from  attack.  Doubtless  the  chief  reason  why  the  English  did  not  extend 
their  settlements  at  an  early  day  into  the  far  West  was  the  fact  that  they 
were  chiefly  interested  in  industrial  and  commercial  life,  in  clearing  farms, 
in  founding  towns,  and  in  building  ships. 


102 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


English 
colonization 


was  founded  by  Cadillac  1701.     Even  thus  early  throughout 
the  West  the  points  of  military  advantage  were  chosen. 

The  methods  of  French  colonization  form 
a  sharp  contrast  to  those  of  the  English. 
The  Englishman  came  to  the 
New  World  for  himself — to  find 
a  home,  perchance  to  escape 
religious  persecution,  or  to  follow  the  light 
of  his  own  conscience,  expecting  by  hard 
and  honest  toil  to  work  his  way  to  comfort. 
He  was  uncared  for  by  the  mother  country, 
and  his  colony  flourished  in  neglect.  Occa 
sionally  a  meddlesome  governor  awakened 
his  resentment,  but,  as  a  rule,  he  governed 
himself  as  he  chose.  He  and  his  fellows 
founded  villages  and  cities  and  established  a 
lucrative  commerce.  They  built  school- 
houses  arid  churches,  and  gradually  worked 
their  way  back  from  the  sea  as  the  popu 
lation  increased  and  new  needs  arose.  They 
were  not  always  harsh  and  unjust  to  the 
Indians;  but  on  the  whole  their  career  was 
one  of  conquest.  Little  by  little  the  redman 
retreated  as  the  settler's  axe  sounded  in  the  forest;  little  by  lit 
tle  the  pioneers  built  their  cabins  in  the  untamed  wilderness 
and  turned  up  the  hunting  ground  with  their  plowshares. 

The  French  were  not  so.    Their  earliest  pioneers  were  priests 
striving  with  marvelous  heroism  to  win  heathen  to  the  church, 
or  adventurous  soldiers  who  sought  honors  and 
French  empire  for  the  monarch  of  France.        The  settle 

ments  along  the  St.  Lawrence  were  strictly  ruled 
by  edict  and  royal  order.  They  knew  nothing  of  self-govern 
ment  or  of  self -taxation.  The  colony  was  not  neglected,  but 
cared  for  by  the  home  Government.  There  was  no  chance  for 
the  development  of  men,  for  practice  in  politics,  for  self-reliance. 
On  the  other  hand,  as  a  contrast  to  this  iron  rule  were  other 
influences  in  Canada.  The  fur  trade  charmed  away  from  the 


PART  OF  A  LEADEN 
PLATE 

The  French  buried 
these  plates  at  the 
river  mouths  that 
they  discovered  to 
mark  their  claim  to 
all  the  land  drained 
by  the  rivers 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763 


103 


settlements  many  restless  fellows,  who,  breaking  over  the  re 
strictions  of  the  home  Government,  which  tried  from  the  offices 
of  Paris  to  control  the  details  of  the  fur  hunting 
of  America,  wandered  off  into  the  West  and  en 
gaged  in  the  lucrative  trade.  A  picturesque  element  were 
these  rollicking  boatmen  and  rangers  of  the  wood,  threading 


The  fur  trade. 


REPRODUCED  FROM  LA  HONTAN'S  VOYAGES,  1703 

the  rivers  of  the  western  wilderness,  bartering  for  furs  with 
the  redman,  or  making  little  settlements  in  the  interior  along 
the  rivers  that  flow  into  the  Lakes,  and  even  beside  those  that 
find  their  way  southward  to  the  Gulf.  Thus  the  contrast  be 
tween  the  English  and  French  colonists  was  strong,  and  the 
result  of  seventy  years  of  war  would  show  which  nation  had 
the  sounder  and  better  colonial  system  and  the  greater  in 
herent  strength. 

Three  times  between  the  Revolution  of  1688  and  the  mid 
dle  of  the  next  century,  France  and  England  were  at  war;  three 
times  the  English  colonists  took  up  arms  in  hopes  of  driving 
the  Frenchmen  from  American  soil,  and  three  times  they  failed.1 

1  In  Europe  the  war  from  1689-97,  called  in  the  colonies  King  Wil 
liam's  War;  the  second,  the  war  of  the  Spanish  succession,  called  in  America 


104  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

r 

But  English  settlers  were  steadily  pushing  backward  from  the 
sea,  and  English  fur  traders  had  no  intention  of  being  shut  off 
from  the  Mississippi  Valley.  A  great  contest  must  come  to 
decide  the  control  of  the  West. 

It  was  clear  that,  in  spite  of  their  great  strength,  the  Eng 
lish  colonies  were  in  danger  because  they  did  not  act  together. 

It  was  suggested  that  a  congress  or  conference  be 
.   neld>  ma-de  up  of  commissioners  from  the  various 

assemblies.  The  chief  object  was  a  joint  treaty 
with  the  Iroquois.  Such  a  congress  met  at  Albany.  Represen 
tatives  were  present  from  seven  colonies.  It  had  no  immediate 
result,  though  the  example  was  of  importance  in  succeeding 
years.  Benjamin  Franklin,  a  member  of  the  congress,  drew  up 
and  presented  a  plan  of  union  which  provided  for  the  formation 
of  a  grand  council  of  forty-eight  members  selected  from  the 
colonies,  and  a  president-general  appointed  by  the  Crown. 

This  plan  was  not  acceptable  to  the  colonial  assem- 
Frankii  blies,  nor  did  it  meet  with  favor  in  England.  The 

Lords  of  Trade  had  already  prepared  a  plan  of  their 
own  but  anything  like  a  union  of  the  colonies  for  more  than 
defensive  purposes  seems  to  have  been  looked  upon  with 
suspicion  in  the  mother  country,  possibly  with  dread.1 

Meanwhile  France  had  been  strengthening  her  position  and 
creeping  nearer  to  her  enemies  on  their  western  frontier.  A 
French  position  at  Niagara  was  taken  and  fortified,  and 

forts-  forts  were  built  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Ohio. 

Thus  the  French  were  well  on  their  way  to  hem  in  the  English 
east  of  the  mountains  and  to  shut  them  out  of  the  Ohio  Val 
ley.2 

Queen  Anne's  War,  1702-13;  the  third,  the  war  of  the  Austrian  Succession, 
called  in  America  King  George's  War,  1744-48. 

1  Before  this  time  there  had  been  various  proposals  for  union.     An 
early  plan  came  from  the  great  Penn,  and  was  called  "A  Briefe  and  Plaine 
Scheame  how  the  English  Colonies  in  the  North  part  of  America   .    .    .   may 
be  made  more  useful  to  the  crown  and  one  another's  peace  and  safety  with 
an  universall  concurrence". 

2  See  map  opposite.     France  had  good  ground  for  claiming  the  Texas 
country,  perhaps  even  to  the  Rio  Grande. 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763 


105 


Washington 
meets  the 
French. 


Governor  Dinwiddie  of  Virginia  was  watchful  of  the  French 
advances  and  decided  to  send  a  remonstrance.  He  chose 
as  his  messenger  George  Washington,  a  young 
man  holding  the  position  of  adjutant-general 
of  the  Virginia  militia.  Washington,  making  a 
long,  perilous  journey  at  the  beginning  of  win 
ter,  found  the  French  at  Fort  Le  Bceuf  as  well  as  Ve- 
nango,  and  warned  them  that  they  must  not  encroach  on 
British  dominion.1  The 
French,  of  course,  refused 
to  heed  such  warnings, 
and  the  next  year  took  a 
further  step  in  advance 
by  building  Fort  Du- 
quesne  2  at  the  forks  of 
the  Ohio,  where  Pittsburg 
now  stands.  This  was  the 
signal  for  war.  Washing 
ton  with  a  few  troops 
marched  against  the  en 
emy,  but  was  defeated 
and  obliged  to  give  up  the 
undertaking.  Thus  all 
English  efforts  to  occupy 
these  strategic  positions  THE  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR 

were    frustrated.       "Not     Showing  the  field  of  the  western  campaigns 
an  English  flag  now  waved  beyond  the  Alleghanies". 

The  next  year  the  English  set  vigorously  to  work.    General 

Braddock  was  sent  to  America  to  command  the  forces  and  to 

dislodge  the  French  in  the  West.    A  courageous 

def*at?Cx755.      s°l°^er>  and  one  who  might,  as  Franklin  said,  have 

made  a  good  figure  in  some  European  war,  he  was 

unfit  for  the  task  assigned  him.    In  the  summer  of  1755  he  led 

1  See  Parkman's  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  vol.  i,  pp.  131  ff.,  for  Washington's 
expedition. 

2  The  English  had  actually  begun  thev  works,  but  were  obliged  to  yield 
to  the  French. 


106  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

an  expedition  against  Fort  Duquesne,  and  the  result  was  dis 
aster.    The  army  was  attacked  by  the  French  and  their  Indian 
allies;  Braddock  was  slain,  and  his  whole  force  routed.    Thus 
ended  the  first  battle  in  the  great  valley  between  the  contest 
ants  for  its  possession.     England  was  woefully 
thehyeaer!entS   '  beaten.    Attacks  upon  Niagara  and  Crown  Point 
were  likewise  unsuccessful,  although  a  victory  was 
won  by  the  English  at  Lake  George. 

While  this  fighting  was  going  on  in  America  there  was  still 
a  nominal  peace  in  Europe.    In  1756  war  was  formally  declared 
between  France  and  England.1     This  was  the  be- 

ginning    °f    the    SeVCn    YeaFS>    War-       The    ^ntest 

was  not  limited  to  two  combatants.  It  involved 
nearly  the  whole  continent.  England  was  allied  with  Frederick 
the  Great  of  Prussia,  and  against  them  were  arrayed  Russia, 

Sweden,  Saxony,  Austria,  and  France.    Frederick, 

almost  completely  surrounded  by  foes  superior  in 
power  if  not  in  Valor,  fought  with  desperation  and  with  consum 
mate  skill  and  bravery.  His  support  from  England  was  for  a 
long  time  weak  and  ineffective,  for  the  English  Government 
was  corrupt  and  feeble.2  Walpole's  belief  that  every  man  had 
his  price  had  become  the  corner  stone  of  cabinets;  governments 
were  founded  on  bribery.  And  yet,  though  there  were  many 

signs  of  vulgarity  in  society  and  dishonesty  in 
France*  "^  government,  the  heart  of  England  was  sound,  and 

in  the  contest  the  nation  was  at  length  able 
to  show  powers  that  France,  with  all  her  silken  nobility,  could 
not  equal.3 

^he  Seven  Years'  War  of  Europe  (1756- '63)  was  the  French  and 
Indian  War  of  America.  There  was  actually  war  here  after  1754. 

2  The  ignorance  or  stupidity  of  English  ministers  in  some  of  their  deal 
ings  with  America  is  illustrated  by  the  tale  about  Newcastle,  for  a  time  at 
the  head  of  the  English  government.  When  he  was  told  that  Annapolis, 
Nova  Scotia,  must  be  defended  he  exclaimed,  "Annapolis,  Annapolis!  Oh, 
yes,  Annapolis  must  be  defended;  to  be  sure,  Annapolis  should  be  defended 
— where  is  Annapolis?", 

8  Valuable  and  entertaining  accounts  of  the  condition  of  the  combat 
ants  in  Parkman's  Montcalm  and  Wolfe,  vol.  -i,  chap,  i,  and  vol.  ii,  chap, 
xviii;  Sloane's  The  French  Waf  and  the  Revolution,  chaps,  i,  ii,  and  iii. 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763 


107 


Strength  of 
Canada. 


The  French  in  America  did  not  exceed  eighty  thousand  in 
number,  but  they  had  a  certain  military  advantage  in  a  war 
with  a  self-governing  people;  for  the  French 
could  strike,  while  the  governors  of  English  col 
onies  were  wrestling  with  obstinate  assemblies  and 
begging  for  money  and  munitions  of  war.  There  were  only 
two  ways  in  which  to  reach  the  real  center  of  Canada:  one  was 
by  way  of  Lake  Champlain,  where  the  French  were  strongly 
posted;  the  other  was  by  way  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  there 


THE  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR 
Showing  the  field  of  the  northern  and  eastern  campaigns 

above  its  waters  frowned  the  fortifications  of  Quebec.  The 
French  were  aided  by  their  devoted  friends  the  Algonquin  In 
dians,  while  the  English  had  no  secure  hold  upon  the  Iroquois, 
although  during  the  course  of  the  war,  because  of  the  exertions 
of  Sir  William  Johnson,  they  were  brought  to  render  the  Eng 
lish  cause  some  service. 

The  English  colonies,  with  a  population  of  1,300,000  white 
people,  were  supplied  with  provisions  and  other  sinews  of  war. 

While  it  is  true  that  the  assemblies  were  often 
^o^f nghsh  obstinate  and  hesitating,  they  gave  men  and  money 

liberally,  when  once  the  colonies  were  aroused  to 
fight,  and  they  showed  a  power,  a  vigor;  and  an  earnestness 
such  as  could  come  only  from  free-thinking,  free-acting,  and 
freedom-loving  people. 


108 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Marquis  de  Montcalm,  the  French  general,  acted  with 
promptness  and  vigor,  and  his  Indian  allies  were  ceaseless  in 
their  cruelties.1  The  English,  on  the  other  hand, 
Campaign  of  aj-  £rst  accomplished  little.  Loudon  and  Aber- 
l1757*  crombie  ("Miss  Nabbycrombie "  the  colonists 
called  him)  came  over 
(1756)  to  America  as  gen 
erals,  displayed  their 
laced  coats,  and  made  a 
show  of  activity;  but  the 
net  result  was  loss  of 
ground  on  the  northern 
frontier.2 

What  would  have  hap 
pened    if    William    Pitt 
had  not  tak 
en  things  in 

hand  in  the  English  min 
istry  it  is  hard  to  say — 
probably  more  defeats 
for  fussy  English  generals. 
Pitt  was  a  great  man,  elo 
quent,  far-seeing,  cease 
lessly  active,  and  with 
profound  faith  in  his 
country.  He  was  the  idol 
of  the  common  people, 
and  in  the  next  four  years, 
by  his  magnificent  daring 
and  by  the  fire  of  his 
word,  raised  slothful  Eng- 


William  Pitt. 


THE  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR 
Showing  the  campaign  of  1756  and  1757 


1  "Not  a  week  passes  but  the  French  send  them  [the  English]  a  band 
of  hairdressers  whom  they  would  be  very  glad  to  dispense  with".    (Letter 
of  a  young  French  captain  to  his  father,  quoted  in  Montcalm  and  Wolfe, 
vol.  i,  p.  380.) 

2  Oswego  and  Fort  William  Henry  were  taken  by  the  French  and  only 
Fort  Edward  stood  between  them  and  Albany. 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763  109 

land  from  humiliation  and  dismay  to  a  lofty  pinnacle  of  power, 
where  she  felt  her  strength  only  too  keenly.  "England  has  at 
last  produced  a  man",  said  Frederick  the  Great.  Pitt  arranged 
for  the  American  war  on  a  liberal  scale,  and  prepared  to  win. 

In  1758  Fort  Frontenac,  near  the  mouth  of  Lake  Ontario, 
and  Fort  Duquesne  were  captured  by  the  English.     But  the 

next   campaign   brought   even   greater   victories. 
.    The  English  were  now  confident,  the  Canadians 

in  despair.  Pitt's  courage  and  enthusiasm  assured 
success.  The  plans  for  the  year  included  the  capture  of  Niag 
ara,  Ticonderoga,  and  Quebec.  Amherst  was  to  take  Ticonde- 
roga,  and  then  proceed  north  to  Quebec  and  there  join  Wolfe, 
who  was  to  sail  up  the  St.  Lawrence  and  beset  the  city.  The 
plan  was  partly  carried  out.  Niagara  was  captured.  This  place, 
with  Fort  Duquesne,  secured  to  the  English  the  control  of  the 
Ohio  Valley.  Amherst  captured  Ticonderoga;  but  he  worked 
with  such  masterly  deliberation  that  cooperation  with  Wolfe 
was  impossible.  Wolfe  made  his  way  up  the  great  river  which 
the  French  had  controlled  so  long  and  prepared  to  attack  Quebec. 
The  place  was  the  strongest  natural  fortress  in  America,  and 
was  under  the  command  of  Montcalm,  who  was  able  and  brave. 
The  whole  summer  was  passed  without  result.  Wolfe  tried 
various  expedients  to  entice  the  enemy  into  an  open  fight,  for 
to  attack  their  defenses  seemed  madness.  Finally  he  deter 
mined  upon  the  bold  task  of  gaining,  from  the  river  at  a  point 
above  the  city,  the  high  plateau  on  which  the  city  stood.  A 
favoring  ravine  seemed  to  offer  a  footing.  On  the  night  of  the 
1 2th  of  September  a  body  of  about  thirty-five  hundred  men 
Quebec  fails  struggled  up  the  height,  and  in  the  morning  stood 

upon  the  Plains  of  Abraham.  Montcalm  was  sur 
prised,  but  accepted  the  gage  of  battle.  The  battle  was  a  brief 
one.  The  French  were  repulsed.  Montcalm  and  Wolfe  were 
killed.  Quebec  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English.1 

1  Horace  Walpole  wrote:  "What  a  scene!  An  army  in  the  night  drag 
ging  itself  up  a  precipice  by  stumps  of  trees  to  assault  a  town  and  attack 
an  enemy  strongly  intrenched  and  double  in  numbers!  The  king  is  over 
whelmed  with  addresses  of  our  victories;  he  will  have  enough  to  paper  his 


110  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

The  next  year  (1760)  Montreal  was  taken.  This  was  prac 
tically  the  end  of  the  war  in  America.  Peace  was  not  made  in 
Europe  until  three  years  later.  Let  us  see  the  result  of  the 
great  conflict.  France  ceded  to  England  all  her  possessions  on 
the  North  American  continent  east  of  the  Miss- 
war  issippi,  save  New  Orleans  and  a  small  district  ad 

jacent  to  the  city,  f^ew  Orleans  and  all  the  ter 
ritory  west  of  the  Mississippi,  to  which  France  had  laid  claim, 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Spain,  who  gave  up  Florida  to  England. 
France  was  allowed  certain  privileges  in  the  Newfoundland 
fisheries,  two  small  islands  were  given  her  to  serve  as  a  shelter 
for  her  fishermen,  and  she  retained  her  hold  on  some  of  the  West 
Indies.  To  this  had  her  vast  dominion  in  the  New  World  dwin 
dled.  Great  Britain  was  now  the  great  colonial  power  of  the 
world.  The  little  island  had  become  an  empire.  "This",  said 
Earl  Granville  on  his  deathbed,  "has  been  the  most  glorious 
war  and  the  most  triumphant  peace  that  England  ever  knew".1 

The  triumph'  of  Wolfe  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  the  most 
striking  event  of  this  war,  is  a  turning  point  in  modern  history. 
It  determined  that  all  this  vast  western  region 

should  Pass  into  EnSlish  hands;  that  here  English 
ideas  of  freedom  and  law,  English  customs  and 
methods  of  thought,  should  prevail.  In  addition  to  this,  the 
acquisition  of  Canada  was  of  great  moment  in  our  history. 
The  colonists  were  freed  from  the  fear  of  French  invasion, 
and  stood  no  longer  in  constant  dread  of  Indian  attacks. 
They  could  now  with  some  hope  of  safety  push  their  way 
across  the  mountains.  Moreover,  relieved  of  these  anxieties, 
they  felt  less  their  dependence  on  England,  although  all 
gloried  in  the  namje  of  Englishmen  when  the  mother  country 
was  thus  at  the  zenith  of  her  power.  The  war  had  shown  that 

palace".  Parkman  says:  "England  blazed  with  bonfires.  In  one  spot 
alone  all  was  dark  and  silent;  for  here  a  widowed  mother  mourned  for  a 
loving  and  devoted  son,  and  the  people  forebore  to  profane  her  grief  with 
the  clamor  of  their  rejoicings". 

1U  Englishmen  had  permanently  girdled  the  globe  with  English  civili 
zation  and  opened  boundless  avenues  to  English  enterprise".  (Sloane,  The 
French  War  and  the  Revolution,  p.  108.) 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND— 1608-1763  111 

provincial  troops  could  fight  and  that  provincial  officers  were 
not  devoid  of  skill.  The  blunders  of  men  like  Loudon,  and  the 
domineering  conduct  of  other  British  officers,  left  a  tinge  of 
resentment  in  the  colonial  heart.1 

REFERENCES 

Short  accounts:  THWAITES,  pp.  33-49,  Chapter  XII,  274-284; 
HART,  Formation  of  the  Union,  Chapter  II;  SLOANE,  The  French  War 
and  the  Revolution,  Chapters  III  to  IX;  BOURINOT,  The  Story  of 
Canada,  especially  Chapters  XII,  XIII,  and  XVIII;  HINSDALE,  The 
Old  Northwest,  Chapters  III  to  V;  THWAITES,  France  in  America; 
GRIFFIS,  Sir  William  Johnson  and  the  Six  Nations;  CHANNING, 
History  of  the-  United  States,  Volume  I,  Chapter  IV,  Volume  II, 
Chapters  V,  XVIII,  XIX. 

The  whole  subject  of  this  chapter  is  covered  in  a  series  of  fasci 
nating  books  by  FRANCIS  PARKMAN.  The  reader  will  find  them  full 
of  interest.  The  titles  are:  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World; 
The  Jesuits  in  America;  La  Salle  and  the  Discovery  of  the  Great  West; 
The  Old  Regime  in  Canada;  Count  Frontenac  and  New  France  under 
Louis  XIV;  A  Half  Century  of  Conflict;  Montcalm  and  Wolfe;  The 
Conspiracy  of  Pontiac. 

1  "  With  the  triumph  of  Wolfe  on  the  Heights  of  Abraham  began  the 
history  of  the  United  States".  (Green,  History  of  the  English  People, 
vol.  iv,  p.  193.) 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  SOCIAL,   INDUSTRIAL,  AND   POLITICAL    CONDI- 
TION  OF   THE   COLONIES   IN   1760 

Each  of  the  English  colonies  that  lay  along  the  Atlantic 
coast  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  had  its  own  indi 
viduality  and  its  own  peculiarities.  The  people 
similarities110  °^  one  col°nv  knew  little  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
others;  and  one  can  find  very  little  evidence  of 
sympathy  and  fellow-feeling,  or  of  any  realization  of  a  common 
interest  and  a  single  destiny.  Without  sympathy  there  could 
be  no  true  national  life  nor  any  strong  sentiment  of  patriotism, 
and  there  could  not  be  sympathy  without  knowledge.  In  its 
origin  and  history  each  colony  differed  from  the  others,  and  the 
course  of  events  up  to  the  outbreak  of  the  French  and  Indian 
War  seemed,  at  times,  rather  to  strengthen  these  differences 
than  to  wear  them  away.1  Climatic  conditions  varied  greatly: 
the  mean  yearly  temperature  of  Maine  is  not  far  from  that  of 
southern  Norway,  while  the  mean  yearly  temperature  of  Geor 
gia  is  nearly  the  same  as  that  of  northern  Africa.  Amid  such 
dissimilar  surroundings  there  grew  up,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
distinct  methods  of  social  and  industrial  life.  And  yet  there 
was  a  strong  bond  of  union  binding  these  groups  of  men  together. 
They  had  common  political  ideals,  built  upon  the  fundamental 

1  It  is  necessary  to  get  some  idea  of  the  separation  of  the  colonies,  in  days 
when  there  was  no  steamboat,  no  telegraph,  no  railroad,  when  roads  were 
few  and  good  ones  almost  unknown,  when  "express"  riders  took  days  to 
hurry  from  New  England  to  Philadelphia,  or  through  the  long  stretches  of 
forest  between  Philadelphia  and  Charleston,  when  a  clumsy  creaky  stage 
coach  was  the  only  mode  of  public  travel  by  land.  It  took  commonly  about 
six  days  for  passengers  to  travel  between  New  York  and  Boston.  It  some 
times  seems  strange — not  that  it  took  long  to  build  up  national  feeling — 
but  that  union  was  so  quickly  made  and  that  nationalism  was  not  longer 
delayed. 

112 


*  CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760 

principles  of  English  freedom;  and  although  each  colony  dif 
fered  somewhat  from  every  other,  they  all  differed  still  more 
widely  in  spirit  and  essential  character  from  the  countries  of 
Europe. 

If  one  is  to  understand  the  history  of  the  United  States,  he 
must  keep  in  mind  this  diversity  and  this  inevitable  tendency 
to  union  and  harmony.  For  these  differences  were 
tSs°co^Citio°n  °^  importance  n°t  simply  while  the  nation  was  in 
its  infancy  (1765-90)  or  in  the  days  when  it  was 
first  trying  its  youthful  strength.  All  through  our  history,  sec 
tional  and  local  peculiarities  have  had  their  influence.  The 
important  fact  is  this:  because 
of  these  differences,  when  the 
colonies  separated  from  Great 
Britain,  they  could  not  yield 
up  all  rights  of  local  govern 
ment  to  a  central  government, 
inasmuch  as  each  colony  or 
State  felt  its  own  individuality. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  colonies 
were  inspired  by  the  same  po 
litical  purpose;  the  ruling  spirit 
in  all  was  a  spirit  of  progress; 
they  cherished  like  ideals;  they 
had  a  common  cause,  which 
could  be  realized  only  through 
union  and  co-operation.  Thus 
it  was  that  the  United  States 
came  to  be — having  one  Gov 
ernment  which  represents  the  common  interests  of  all  and 
carries  out  the  purposes  of  all,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  being 
made  up  of  States  or  commonwealths,  where  the  people  can 

1  Samuel  Adams,  often  called  the  Man  of  the  Town  Meeting  and  the 
Father  of  the  Revolution,  is  the  best  example  of  an  energetic  politician  and 
statesman  of  the  late  colonial  period.  The  original  of  this  picture,  painted 
by  Copley,  hung  for  a  time  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  but  is  now  in  the  Art 

Museum. 


114 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Three  groups. 


regulate  their  own  local  concerns  and  manage  their  own  affairs 
as  they  choose. 

While  it  is  true  that  each  of  the  colonies  had  its  own  pecu 
liar  life  and  character,  we  can  easily  distinguish  three  groups  of 
colonies:  the  Southern,  middle,  and  New  England 
groups.  All  of  the  colonies  south  of  Pennsylvania 
had  many  characteristics  in  common.  The  similarity  was  due 
in  part,  to  the  fact  that  they  were  founded  on  slavery,1  in  part  to 
the  fact  that  natural  conditions  favored  the  plan 
tation.  There  were  slaves  in  all  the  colonies; 
on  slavery.  but  in  the  South  slavery  directly  shaped  the 
industrial  and  social  life  of  the 
people.  In  Virginia,  in  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  one  half  of 
the  population  were  slaves.  South 
Carolina  contained  even  more  negroes 
than  white  people,  and  the  number 
was  rapidly  increasing  by  importa 
tions  from  Africa  or  the  West  Indies. 
In  all  the  colonies  rigorous  laws  were 
passed  to  guard  against  a  servile  in 
surrection;  but  they  do  not  seem  to 
have  been  rigidly  enforced,  and  on 
the  whole  the  slaves  were  well 
treated. 

The  slave  did  the  task  assigned 
him,  but  did  not  readily  change  his  methods  or  take  up  new 
•work.  Therefore,  partly  because  of  slave  labor,  the  industrial 

1  We  should  notice,  too,  that  even  up  to  the  Revolution  convicts  were 
shipped  from  England  to  America  and  entered  into  servitude  in  the  colo 
nies.  They  seem  to  have  been  more  abundant  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line  than  at  the  north.  We  are  told  that  in  Maryland  "not  a  ship  arrives, 
with  either  redemptioners  or  convicts,  in  which  schoolmasters  are  not  as 
regularly  advertised  for  sale  as  weavers,  tailors,  or  any  other  trade".  In 
addition  to  these  convicts  in  servitude  were  redemptioners,  persons  who 
bound  themselves  to  service  for  a  short  term  of  years,  generally  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  the  voyage  to  America.  Many  of  them  were  brought  here. 
The  redemptioner  agreed  on  taking  ship  to  America  that  he  might  be  sold 


A  HOUSE  SLAVE  OF  WASH 
INGTON'S  DAY 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760 


115 


Slave  labor. 


interests  of  the  South  were  not  diverse.1  The  great  staple  prod 
uct  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  was  tobacco.  South  Carolina 
raised  rice  and  indigo.  All  the  Southern  colonies 
were  purely  agricultural,  and  they  raised  little  for 
export,  except  the  great  staple  products  we  have  just  men 
tioned.  There  was  almost  no  manufacturing.  The  com 
monest  articles  of  house 
hold  use  .were  brought 
from  the  mother  country 
or  from  the  New  England 
colonies. 

There    were    in    1760 


Plantation  life 
in  the  South. 


FIVE   POUNDS   REWARD. 

RAN  awav  from  the  fobfcriber, 
living    in   Shepherd'j  Town, 
feme  time  in  October  laf,  a  Mulatto 
BOY  named  TOBY,  about  14  years 
of  age,  and  has  a  fear  on  the  right  fide 
of  his    throat— f-fad   on,    when     he 
went   away,     an  old  brown  jacket, 
tow  fhirt  «nd  check  troufers,  which  are  fuppofed  to 'be 
worn  out  by  this  time — Whoever  uke»   up  the  faid 
Mulatto,  and  fecures  him  in  any   gaol,  To  that  his  mat- 
ter  mar  have  him  again,  (hall  receive  the  above  reward 
from  JOHN    CLAWSON. 

N,  B.   All    mailers  of  veftcls  are  forwarned  not  to 
take  him  off  at  their  peril. 

In  the  Ship  Nancy,  Capt.  Burrow,  arriv 
ed  at  Baltimore,  a  Caigo  of 

Coarfe  Salt. 

TO    BE   SOLD,  on  REASONABLE   TERMS,  by 
JOHNSTEVFNSON. 


A  TYPICAL 
ADVERTISEMENT  FOR  A  RUNAWAY  SLAVE 


in 

over  three  quarters  of  a 
million  peo 
ple  living 
south  of 

Pennsylvania,  and  yet 
Charleston  and  Baltimore 
were  the  only  cities  of 
any  importance  south  of 
Philadelphia.  Although 
Virginia  was  the  oldest 
colony,  and  had  a  popu 
lation  of  about  five  hundred  thousand  at  the  end  of  the  colo 
nial  period,  there  were  no  cities  and  only  one  large  place, 
Norfolk,  within  its  borders.  The  plantations  were  the  units 
of  Virginia  life,  and  by  studying  them  we  can  see  the  real 
social  forces  of  the  colony. 

In  Virginia  there  were  natural  or  physical  reasons  for  the 
absence  of  towns  and  the  predominance  of  country  life.    The 

into  servitude  for  a  term  of  years  to  pay  the  cost  of  the  passage,  unless  he 
or  a  friend  for  him  paid  the  cost  to  the  shipmaster  on  reaching  America. 
Thousands  of  people  were  thus  brought  over  and  furnished  the  labor  for 
farm  and  plantation. 

JOf  course  the  plantation  system  was  not  primarily  due  to  slavery;  it 
was  due  to  climate,  soil  and  crops — to  rice,  cotton  and  tobacco.      The 
introduction  and  development  of  the  slave  system  aided  the  development 
of  the  plantation  system  and  helped  to  maintain  it. 
9 


116  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

rich,  fertile  soil  tempted  men  to  agricultural  life.     Moreover, 

the  branching  rivers  navigable  from  the  sea  served  as  great 

highways  to  the  interior.    Vessels  sailed  up  to  the 

Reason  for         planter's  very  door  to  discharge  their  cargoes  and 

absence  or  towns r  •"  «   '   .  i  mi  T    n- 

in  Virginia.  to  be  loaded  with  tobacco.  Thomas  Jefferson  said: 
"Our  country  being  much  intersected  with  navi 
gable  waters,  and  trade  brought  generally  to  our  doors  instead 
of  our  being  obliged  to  go  in  quest  of  it,  has  probably  been  one 
of  the  causes  why  we  have  no  towns  of  any  consequence".1 

The  large  Virginia  plantation  was  a  small  community  almost 

sufficient  unto  itself.    Its  center  was  the  large  and  hospitable 

planter's  home,  built  of  wood  or  brick.     Around 

The  planter.  .  .  _ 

this  imposing  mansion  clustered  the  omces,  and 
not  far  away  was  the  little  village  of  negro  cabins.  The  plan 
tation  gave  food  in  profusion;  other  necessities  and  luxuries 
were  brought  from  England  to  the  planter's  wharf  in  exchange 
for  tobacco.  Everywhere  was  a  look  of  lavishness  and  of  open, 
free-handed  living  in  this  golden  age  before  the  Revolution; 
and  the  picture  of  it  all  is  pleasant  on  the  whole — the  planter 
driving  his  heavy  four-wheeled  coach  over  the  dreadful  roads, 
or  riding  his  horse  along  a  bridle  path  to  the  county  court 
house  or  neighbor's  mansion,  or  caring  for  his  big  plantation 
and  the  big  band  of  black  retainers,  or  offering  hospitality  to 
friend  or  stranger  at  the  board  which  groaned  with  products 
of  the  plantation  and  the  forest.  Many  a  planter  living  in  pro 
fusion  was  in  debt  to  an  English  merchant;  his  mansion  house, 
with  its  show  of  elegance,  was  out  of  repair; 2  and  his  plantation 

1  Notes  on  the  State  of  Virginia,  Query  XII.    We  can  understand  a 
good  deal  of  "Jeffersonian  simplicity"   of  later  days,  when  we  remember 
that  Jefferson,  like  many  another  of  his  class,  had  almost  reached  man's 
estate  before  he  had  seen  more  than  a  dozen  or  two  houses  together.     It 
must  have  been  a  great  experience  for  him  when,  still  a  young  man,  he 
went  to  Philadelphia,  which  had  already  put  on  something  Ifke  city  airs; 
and  how  he  must  have  been  interested  in  Paris  when  he  went  there  at  a 
later  time  and  saw  the  splendors  and  the  squalor  of  the  city  and  the  pomp 
of  the  King  of  France. 

2  "The  Virginians",  said  a  traveler,  "are  not  generally  rich,  especially 
in  net  revenue.     There  one  often  finds  a  well-served  table,  covered  with 
silver  in  a  room  where  for  ten  years  half  the  window  panes  have  been  miss- 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760          117 

gave  other  evidences  of  wastefulness  and  loose  business  methods. 
And  yet  we  should  much  mistake,  if  we  should  suppose  that 
Virginia  was  made  up  of  rollicking  planters,  fond  only  of  the 
congenial  employment  of  watching  other  people  work;  men  like 
Washington  and  Mason  were  competent  men  of  affairs.  The 
typical  Virginia  gentleman  may  have  been  haughty,  proud, 
extravagant,  and  perchance  impetuous,  but  he  was  apt  to 
be  straightforward,  hospitable,  honest,  with  a  keen  sense  of 
honor,  and  a  thorough  devotion  to  his  rights  and  liberties. 

Although  the  great  planter  was  the  most  important  person 
age  of  colonial  Virginia  and  dominated  its  social  and  political 

life,  there  were  others  whose  presence  must  not 
Virginia  ^e  f°rg°tten.  There  were  the  frontiersmen  with 

their  small  clearings,  men  who  were  pushing  out 
into  what  was  then  the  new  West,  and  who,  earning  their  bread 
by  their  own  toil,  had  little  in  common  with  the  aristocratic 
planters  of  the  East.  Then  there  were  the  poor  whites,  reck 
less,  rollicking  fellows,  many  of  them,  who  gathered  around  the 
country  taverns  to  bet  on  horse  races  or  to  engage  in  wrestling 
and  gouging  matches.  And,  lastly,  there  was  a  certain  middle 
class,  rough,  unlettered  men,  perhaps,  but  often  of  sterling 
worth  and  good  stock  for  a  commonwealth. 

The  College  of  William  and  Mary,  established  in  1693,  was 
the  only  college  in  the  South.    The  sons  of  the  great  planters 

often  studied  in  Europe,  or  they  were  taught  by 
education™1  private  tutors,  or  perhaps  they  went  to  a  Northern 

college;  but  the  boy  and  girl  of  the  common  peo 
ple  had  few  chances  to  pick  up  learning.  Even  if  the  planter 
did  not  have  book-learning — and  some  of  them  did — there  was 
much  that  was  invigorating  in  his  life.  The  sense  of  responsi 
bility  and  power  which  he  constantly  felt,  his  interest  in  poli 
tics,  his  intercourse  with  other  men — which  a  boundless  hospi 
tality  encouraged — made  him,  in  spite  of  his  somewhat  secluded 
life,  a  man  of  strong  parts,  with  a  knowledge  of  himself  and 
some 'skill  in  dealing  with  his  fellows.  There  was  something 

ing,  and  where  they  will  be  missed  for  ten  years  more".  These  words 
were  written  of  a  somewhat  later  time,  but  were  true  of  1760. 


118  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

wholesome  in  the  society  which  in  one  generation  produced  sev 
eral  of  the  great  men  of  the  world's  history.  Washington, 
Jefferson,  and  Marshall  belong  not  to  Virginia,  but  to  the  world. 


WILLIAM  AND  MARY  COLLEGE,  WILLIAMSBURG,  VA. 
From  an  old  print 

The  New  England  colonies  differed  somewhat  from  one  an 
other  in  their  social,  industrial,  and  political  makeup;  but  on 
the  whole  they  were  much  alike,  while  they  pre- 
sented  many  sharp  contrasts  to  the  colonies  of  the 
South.  The  population  was  of  almost  pure  English 
blood.1  There  were  a  few  slaves,  but  slavery  did  not  materially 
affect  the  conditions  of  life  or  change  the  development  of  the  col 
onies.  "Originally  settled",  said  a  contemporary  writer,  "by 
the  same  kind  of  people,  a  similar  policy  naturally  rooted  in  all 
the  colonies  of  New  England.  Their  forms  of  government, 
their  laws,  their  courts  of  justice,  their  manners,  and  their 
religious  tenets,  which  gave  birth  to  all  these,  were  nearly 
the  same". 

The  isolated  life  of  the  plantation  was  unknown  in  New 
England.  Though  by  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
people  had  scattered  somewhat,  the  small  farmer  was  likely 

1The  population  in  1760  was  about  600,000;  in  Massachusetts  there 
were  about  300.000. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760 


119 


Town  life. 


to  be  within  sound  of  the  church  bell  and  within  reach  of  a 
schoolhouse.  There  were  many  causes  for  this  concentration  of 
population.  Some  were  natural  or  physical 
causes,  some  sprang  from  the  purposes  and  char 
acter  of  the  colonists.  The  chief  reasons  were  the  following: 
i.  The  long  and  dreary  winter  of  New  England  brought 
the  people  together  for  companionship  and  protection. 


A  PRINTING  PRESS  OF  FRANKLIN'S  DAY 

2.  The  soil  was  poor,  and  yielded  its  crops  only  to  the 
diligent  toiler;  it  did  not  by  its  fertility  beguile  man  to 
easy  agriculture;  he  was  tempted  to  become  a  trader 
or  a  mechanic.  3.  Since  the  sea  was  more  fruitful  than 
the  land,  little  fishing  villages  dotted  the  coasts.  4.  The 
rivers  were  many  of  them  rapid  and  narrow,  well  suited 
to  turn  the  mill  wheel,  but  not  serving  as  highways  from  the  sea. 
5.  For  a  century  before  the  Revolution,  the  Indian  was  a  con- 


120  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

stant  source  of  fear,  and  this  dread  induced  the  frontiersman 
not  to  move  too  far  from  the  village  and  the  common  defenses. 
6.  Moreover,  the  early  settlers  were  men  of  intense  religious 
conviction  and  purpose;  they  came  to  worship  together,  and 
in  consequence  the  first  settlements  were  clustered  around  the 
meeting  house.  7.  In  many  instances,  too,  the  people  had  been 
moved  by  a  common  interest  to  emigrate  from  "dear  England", 
and  they  therefore  settled  together  as  a  community  to  live  out 
together  a  common  life,1 

While  Virginia  was  almost  solely  given  up  to  agriculture, 
the  New  England  States  had  various  industries.  Farming,  of 
course,  occupied  a  great  portion  of  the  popula- 
ind"stries.  tioir,  ^ut>  especially  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode 
Island,  some  persons  engaged  in  manufacturing. 
Every  New  Englander,  taught  by  stern  necessity,  became  a 
mechanic  more  or  less  "handy  with  his  tools".  Had  it  not 
been  for  the  repressive  policy  of  the  mother  country,  the  hum 
of  the  busy  factory  wheels  would  have  been  heard  along  many 
of  the  swift  water  courses  that  were  ready  to  give  their  force  for 
the  asking.  As  it  was,  something  was  done:  linens  and  woolens 
were  woven;  the  smith  and  tanner  plied  their  trades;  homely 
articles  of  daily  use  were  made  by  the  farmer  and  his  sons,  and 
the  housewife  prepared  the  simple  homespun. 

Many  were  interested  in  ocean  commerce,  and  were  show 
ing  a  skill  that  has  become  proverbial  in  all  the  arts  of  trade. 
Commerce  Shipbuilding  had  grown  to  be  a  great  industry. 
With  their  own  ships  the  hardy  Yankee  seamen 
made  long  voyages.  Before  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century 
they  sailed  along  the  coast  of  the  Southern  States  in  their  little 
sloops  and  ketches.  The  trade  with  the  West  Indies  came  to 
be  of  great  importance.  Cargoes  of  fish  and  lumber  were  taken 
to  the  islands,  and  sugar  or  molasses  was  brought  back.  Voy- 

1  It  may  be  necessary  to  say  again  that  "town"  as  the  word  is  used  in 
New  England  did  not  commonly  mean  a  group  of  homes.  The  people,  as 
a  rule,  did  live  close  together  rather  than  on  isolated  farms,  but  the  town 
covered  several  square  miles,  and  the  people  within  it  were  in  the  town  in 
the  governmental  and  social  sense  in  which  the  word  was  commonly  used. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760  121 

ages  to  the  countries  of  southern  Europe  were  not  uncommon.1 
Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  before  the  Revolution  the  New  Eng 
land  colonies  had  developed  a  wide  commerce,  and  established 
a  foundation  for  a  broad  and  varied  industrial  life. 

New  England  was  founded  by  men  full  of  religious  en 
thusiasm,  and  throughout  the  whole  colonial  period  religious 
Reii  ion  beliefs  strongly  affected  the  manners  and  habits 

of  the  people.  Religion  was  part  of  the  daily  so 
cial  life  of  the  Puritan;  it  was  not  something  set  apart  for  Sun 
days  and  fast  days.  By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
other  elements  than  the  strictly  Puritanic  were  everywhere  visi 
ble,  but  society  was  still  largely  ruled  by  the  early  conceptions. 
Life  was  still  running  in  the  channels  marked  out  by  the  founders 
of  the  colony.  In  early  times  churchgoing  was  the  chief  occupa 
tion  of  Sunday.  The  churches  were  not  heated  in  winter,  but 
the  devoted  congregation  seemed  not  to  be  disturbed  by  cold. 
One  of  this  old,  hardy  school,  writing  in  1716,  tells  of  the  bread's 
being  frozen  at  the  communion  table,  and  says:  " Though  it  was 
so  cold,  yet  John  Tuckerman  was  baptized.  At  six  o'clock  my 
ink  freezes  so  that  I  can  hardly  write  by  a  good  fire  in  my  wife's 
chamber.  Yet  was  very  comfortable  at  meeting".  One  must 
honor  the  steadfast  earnestness  which  warmed  this  good  man. 
From  such  firm  believers  in  what  triey  believed,  and  sturdy 
doers  of  what  they  thought  right,  came  many  of  those  who  in 
later  years  laid  the  foundations  of  the  republic. 

"The  public  institutions  in  New  England  for  the  educa 
tion  of  youth,  supporting  colleges  at  the  public  expense,  and 

1  "No  sea",  exclaimed  Burke,  "but  what  is  vexed  by  their  fisheries.  No 
climate  that  is  not  witness  to  their  toils.  Neither  the  perseverance  of  Hol 
land,  nor  the  activity  of  France,  nor  the  dexterous  and  firm  sagacity  of  Eng 
lish  enterprise,  ever  carried  this  most  perilous  mode  of  industry  to  the  extent 
to  which  it  has  been  pushed  by  this  recent  people — a  people  who  are  still, 
as  it  were,  but  in  the  gristle,  and  not  yet  hardened  into  the  bone  of  man 
hood".  These  words  were  spoken  of  the  colonies  in  general,  but  are  espe 
cially  true  of  the  New  England  colonies.  The  people  of  the  South  sent 
their  products  to  England  and  got  back  many  things.  The  New  Englander 
traded  with  the  West  Indies  and  carried  on  the  coasting  trade,  trafficking 
sometimes  in  the  rivers  and  bays  of  the  Southern  states. 


122 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


obliging  towns  to  maintain  grammar  schools,  are  not  equaled, 
and  never  were,  in  any  part  of  the  world". l    Thus  John  Adams 
forcibly  stated  one  great  fact  that  lay  at  the  bot 
tom  of  New  England's  worth.    The  colonies  were 
founded  by  men  who  respected  learning.    In  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century  illiteracy  was  almost  unknown.    Each  man 
could  read  his  Bible;  he  could  read  his  books  on  politics  as  well 
as  religion.    Burke  says  that  almost  as  many  copies  of  Black- 


Mon.          May  hath  xxxt  days. 


Tn  an  Acre  of  Land  ate  43  jtfo  iquaie  feet, 
In  TOO  Acfej  arc  4356000  fcjuatc  .feet  ; 
Tventy  Pounds  will  buy  ipo  Acres  of  thePropiIetOr. 
In  lo  L  are  4  8  oo  -pence  ;  "by  which  divide  tbe  Num 
ber  of  Feet  in  too  Acres  ;  and  you  will  .find  that 
one  penny  will  buy  907  flpjare  Feet  j  or  a  I«ot  ofj  30 
Peer  fijuare.  ----  Save  your  Penct. 


pleaftnt 
Daybreak  3  16 
now  expeft 
TJ$   thunder 
and  rain. 

ftogdtum. 

DbcT     Cufty 


274 


214 


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21 
b 
H4 


4  J4  8 

.j3* 

453J 

274  51  8|Ne\sr 
II  4508 


Tcu  tn  ay  fo 


D  tife  3 
Princes,  if  you 


}) 
at  noon. 


FACSIMILE  OF  PART  OF  A  PAGE  OF  POOR  RICHARD'S  ALMANAC 

stone's  Commentaries  were  sold  in  America  as  in  England,  and 
General  Gage  wrote  from  Boston  that  the  people  in  his  govern 
ment  were  either  lawyers  or  smatterers  in  law.  "This  study", 
says  Burke,  "  renders  men  acute,  inquisitive,  dexterous,  prompt 
in  attack,  ready  in  defense,  full  of  resources".  When  Great 
Britain  determined  to  coerce  Massachusetts,  she  arrayed 
against  herself  the  most  enlightened  and  intelligent  population 
on  the  face  of  the  earth. 


1  Familiap  Letters  of  John  Adams,  p.  120. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760 


123 


Politically  New  England  was  nearly  a  pure  democracy. 
Socially  it  was  democratic  in  comparison  with  Europe  or  with 
the  colonies  of  the  South.  The  New  England 
village,  with  its  wide  street,  its  rows  of  com 
fortable  houses,  and  its  big  roomy  yards,  declared 
more  plainly  than  words  that  no  feudal  system  had  ever  laid  its 
burden  on  the  people.  And  yet,  though  few  had  anything  that 


Tothe  PUBLIC, 

THE  FLYING  MACHINE,  kept  by 
John.Meroeiea«,  at  the  Ncw-Blazind-  Star-  Ferry, 
near  New-  York,  let*  off  from  Powlee  Hook  every  Mon 
day,  Wednefdar,  and  Friday  Morninge.  forFlwUderphU, 
axvd  performs  the  Journey  in  a  Day  and  a  JJ«lf,  for  the 
dummerSe«ibp.vti]l  theiftof  TfovenibeTvfiotji.  that  Tim* 
to  &>  twice  a  'Week  till  tKe  ftrft  of  May,  when  #iey 
a^*m  perform-  it  three  Time*  «L  Week  .  "When  the  Stages 
tf<  only  twice  a  Week,  -they  fecoff  Mond^a  aruiTlmrP 
days,  THc\V«g|on«  in  Philadelphia,  fet  out  from,  the 
Ss^n  of  the  George,  in  Second  /tree  t,  the  lame  Morning. 
The  Pafl«njer»ar«<fc  fired  to  croft  the  Ferry  the 
before,  a»«ie  Stages  mull  fet  oiTear  the  rie^t 
The  Trice  fweaih  Faflen^er  xa 
Goods  as  ufimt,  Panen^ers  going  JVrt  of  the  W«y 
in  Proportion.  t 

As  the  Proprietor  has  made  (uch  Improvements  upon 
theMichines,  one  of  whichts  irtTmiUtionof  aCoacK. 
lie  Hopes  to  rnen't  «ve  Favour  of  the  Poblick. 

JOHN  MEHCEREAU. 


A  CONTEMPORARY  ADVERTISEMENT 

could  be  called  riches,  and  none  need  be  poor,  there  were  social 
differences  in  New  England.     Some  families  were  entitled  to 


124 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


distinction.  The  best  pews  in  church  were  reserved  for  them; 
they  were  treated  with  deference  and  respect.  The  "old 
families"  were  preferred  to  the  "newcomers".  Society  was 
divided  into  gentlemen,  yeomen,  merchants,  and  mechanics, 
but  the  lines  were  not  sharply  drawn.  Such  primitive  varia 
tions  from  pure  democracy  seem  quaint  and  trivial.  One 
would  greatly  err,  however,  if  he  believed  that  these  social 
distinctions  did  not  influence  the  development  of  our  history. 

Before  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  the  population  of 
the  middle  colonies  had  reached  four  hundred  thousand.  Many 
different  nationalities  were  represented,  the  emi- 
grants  from  the  countries  of  continental  Europe 
having  come  in  larger  numbers  to  these  ^colonies 
than  to  others.1  Though  agriculture  here,  as  elsewhere,  was 
of  chief  importance,  New  York  and  Philadelphia  were  thriving 


NEW  YORK  CITY  IN  1732,  FROM  BROOKLYN  HEIGHT! 

1  It  is  naturally  difficult  to  determine  just  how  many  of  a  nationality 
were  in  a  colony.  An  attempt,  more  or  less  successful,  has  been  made  to 
decide  on  nationality  by  the  name,  but  here  a  difficulty  arises.  Suppose  a 
man's  name  was  Klein — presumably  he  was  a  German;  but  he  or  his  chil 
dren  might  change  the  name  and  make  it  Little  or  Small.  An  instance  is 
given  of  a  French  settler  in  New  England  whose  name  was  Blondpied,  i.  e. 
Whitefoot;  one  of  his  sons  came  to  be  known  as  Blumpey  and  another  one  as 
Whitefoot.  Professor  Chinning  (History  of  the  U.  S.,  II,  422)  gives  a  dia 
gram  showing  that  an  American  might  be  the  great  grandson  of  eight  per 
sons,  each  with  a  religion  and  a  nationality  different  from  the  other. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760 


125 


Education. 


places,  the  former  with  a  population  of  about  14,000  people, 
the  latter  with  19,000.  Both  had  considerable  foreign  commerce. 
In  Pennsylvania  manufacturing  was  begun,  giving  prophecy 
of  the  immense  development  of  the  future. 

The  middle  colonies  had  no  such  facilities  for  education 
and  no  such  devotion  to  learning  as  the  New  England  colonies. 
In  New  York  City  was  King's  College,  established 
about  the  middle  of  the  century,  but  the  lower 
schools  throughout  the  province  were  neither  good  nor  plentiful. 
In  New  Jersey  a  few  good  schools  were  to  be  found,  and  Prince 
ton  College,  established  by  the  Presbyterians  in  1746,  though 
still  small,  was  an  influential  and  thrifty  institution.1  Phila 
delphia  possessed  two  public  libraries  besides  many  excellent 
private  ones,  filled  with  copies  of  the  classics  of  the  time.  The 
University  of  Pennsylvania  was  already  founded  and  was  in  a 
flourishing  condition.  * 

Of  all  the  northern  colonies 
New  York  had  the  nearest  ap 
proach  to  an  aristoc 
racy.  There  was  a 
class  of  great  land 
holders  possessed  of  vast  estates, 
who  towered  above  their  neighbors. 
Some  of  the  estates  had  been  es 
tablished  in  Dutch  times,  and  some 
of  their  holders  were  descendants 
of  men  upon  whom  the  old  West 
India  Company  had  lavished  its 
grants.  In  New  York  City  there 
were  dignified  Dutch  merchants 
and  ship  owners;  and  there  were 
Englishmen  and  men  of  other  na- 

1  Several  of  the  men  who  formed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
were  Princeton  men — Paterson,  Madison,  Luther  Martin,  Ellsworth;  some 
of  them,  it  is  interesting  to  notice,  belonged  to  the  same  "society"  in  col 
lege — a  literary  society! — the  " Cliosophic  Society",  which  means,  I  sup 
pose,  a  society  wise  in  history,  since  Clio  is  the  muse  of  that  noble  branch 
of  learning. 


New  York 
aristocracy. 


126 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Democracy  in 
Pennsylvania. 


tionalities  who,  possessed  of  some  wealth — as  wealth  was 
counted  in  those  simple  days — held  places  of  more  or  less 
social  distinction ;  but  the  land  was  largely  made  up  of  farmers 
and  fur-traders  with  a  few  artisans  and  small  tradesmen. 

In  Pennsylvania,  save  in  the  Quaker  City,  where  there  was 
a  good  deal  of  luxury  among  the  descendants  of  the  early 
settlers,  the  people  i:ved  simply.  "In  Pennsyl 
vania",  said  Albert  Gdllatin  at  a  later  day,  "not 
only  we  have  neither  Livingstons  nor  Rensselaers,1 
but  from  the  suburbs  of  Philadelphia  to  the  Ohio  I  do  not 
know  a  single  family  that  has  any  extensive  influence.  An 

equal  distribution  of  prop 
erty  has  rendered  every 
individual  independent, 
and  there  is  among  us 
true  and  real  equality". 
The  people  were  sober- 
minded  and  conservative. 
If  other  colonies  were 
hasty,  Pennsylvania  was 
deliberate.  To  the  more 
fiery  colonies  of  the  South 
and  North  she  seemed  at 
times  phlegmatic  and  de 
void  of  spirit.  But  Penn 
sylvania  cherished  her  lib 
erties  and  knew  how  to 
defend  them, 
we  should  confine  our  attention  solely  to  the  central 


THE  BIRTHPLACE  OF  BENJAMIN  FRANK 
LIN  IN  BOSTON 


If 


government  of  each  colony,  we  should  get  but  a  faint  idea  of 
„  , t         the  political  life  of  the  American  colonists.      Rep- 

Political  life. 

resentative  assemblies  were,  as  we  have  seen,  alert 
and  active;  they  show  that  the  people  were  alive  to  political 
questions.  But  the  virility  of  American  politics  is  perhaps  even 
more  clearly  seen  in  the  local  organizations.  There  were  three 


1  Two  of  the  great  New  York  families. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760          127 

systems  of  local  government:  a,  the  town;  b,  the  county;  c,  a 
mixture  of  the  two.  The  New  England  colonies  had  the  town, 
the  Southern  colonies  the  county,  and  the  middle  colonies  tb<*. 
mixed  system. 

The  town  grew  up  naturally  in  New  England.      The  people 
of  each  small  community  looked  after  their  common  interests. 

All  the  little  affairs  of  the  neighborhood  were  the 
mind!™  concern  of  the  town  meeting;1  there  was  nothing 

beyond  its  reach.  It  sought  to  know  "the  town's 
mind",  and  to  declare  it.  Each  man  was  entitled  to  take  part  in 
its  sturdy  discussions,  and  each  was  expected  to  bow  to  the  deci 
sion  of  the  town.  Selectmen  were  elected  to  have  general  charge 
of  town  affairs;  and  a  clerk,2  whose  duties  were  various,  and  a 
constable  were  also  chosen.  Besides  these  officers  there  were 
many  others,  some  of  them  regularly  and  annually  elected, 
others  because  of  a  temporary  neecV  The  titles  and  duties  of 
these  men  bring  before  us  the  readiness  of  the  town  to  express  its 
"mind"  on  any  subject  of  common  interest.  Among  them  we 
find  tithing  men;  fence  viewers;  hog  reeves;  measurers  of 
wood;  overseers  of  measurers  of  wood;  men  to  take  "care 
of  the  Alewives  not  Being  stoped  from  going  up  the  Revers  to 
cast  their  sporns";  men  to  prevent  cheating  by  those  who  sold 
lumber,  "because  bundles  <5f  shingles  are  marked  for  a  greater 
number  than  what  they  contain";  wardens  to  inspect  "ye 

1  The  town  played  an  important  part  in  its  relation  to  the  government 
of  the  colony,  but  its  local  duties  were  doubtless  chief  in  its  own  eyes.    An 
example  of  thorough  local  legislation  is  illustrated  by  the  following:  "It  is 
ordered  that  all  doggs,  for  the  space  of  three  weeks  after  the  publishinge 
hereof,  shall  have  one  legg  tied  up.  .  .  .  If  a  man  refuse  to  tye  up  his  dogg's 
legg  and  he  bee  found  scraping  up  fish  in  the  corne  field,  the  owner  shall  pay 
i2s.  besides  whatever  damage  the  dogg  doth".    Quoted  in  Hart,  Practical 
Essays  on  American  Government,  pp.  144,  145. 

2  Not  simply  the  orders  of  the  town  meeting  were  written  in  his  books; 
but  births,  deaths,  and  marriages,  transfer  of  pews  in  the  meeting  house, 
estrays  taken  up,  as  "a  Red  Stray  Hefar  two  years  old  and  she  hath  sum 
white  In  the  face".    He  wrote  down,  too,  the  earmarks  of  the  farmers'  cat 
tle.    "Joshua  Brigs  mark  Is  a  Scware  Crop  In  the  under  side  of  ye  Right 
ear".     See  the  delightful  account  in  Bliss,  Colonial  Times  on  Buzzard's 
Bay,  chap.  vi. 


128  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

meeting  Hous  on  ye  Lord's  Day  and  see  to  Good  Order  among 
ye  Boys";  cattle  pounders;  sealers  of  leather;  gamekeepers 
"to  Bee  the  men  for  Prevesation  of  the  Deare  for  the  year 
Insuing". 

Here,  then,  men  learned  the  art  of  government,  and  they 
learned  the  lessons  of  obedience  as  well.  The  New  Englander 
did  not  gain  his  ideas  of  government  from  books; 
he  based  his  theories  on  practice  and  experience. 
The  town  meeting  was  his  school.  Men  thus 
trained  could  not  accept  tyranny;  accustomed  to  govern  them 
selves,  they  were  ready  to  resent  the  slightest  encroachment 
upon  their  rights. 

The  South  did  not  have  the  town.     Its  method  of  settle 
ment  had  not  naturally  produced  it.    In  Virginia  the  county 
was  the  organ  of  local  government.    The  popula 
tion  of  a  county  was  not  large,  but  the  people 
were  scattered.     Most  important  of  all  is  the  fact  that  the 
county  officers  were  appointed  by  the  royal  governor,  and  were 
not  the  agents  of  the  people.    Its  various  officers  thus  repre 
sented  the  power  of  the  commonwealth,  not  of  the 
locality;   or,  more  correctly,  they  represented  the 
power  of  the  Crown  in  the  colony.    Were  it  not  for  the  sterling, 
vigorous  independence  begotten  by  the  freedom  of  Virginia 
lif e,  one  might  fancy  that  under  such  a  system  free  institutions 
would  be  in  danger  of  extinction.    Yet  it  must  be  remembered 
that  this  local  authority  was  in  the  hands  of  men  chosen  by  the 
governor  from  the  neighborhood,  not  strangers  or  creatures  of 
a  foreign  power,  and  also  that  the  laws  under  which  they  acted 
were  made  by  the  people's  own  representatives.1 
the*  poetical        ^ne  resu^>  at  least,  followed — practice  in  adminis- 
organization.       trative  government  fell  to  a  select  few;  the  colony 
was  governed  by  the  conspicuous  planters,  who 

"The  centralized  system  created  able  political  leaders,  just  as  the  town 
meeting  created  a  well-trained  democracy,  while  the  forces  of  American  life 
tended  to  carry  both  alike  against  Crown  and  Parliament".  (Hinsdale, 
The  American  Government.)  The  county  in  New  England  was  established 
almost  entirely  for  judicial  purposes;  in  Virginia  the  county  commission- 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760          129 

felt  their  aptitude  for  rule.  Moreover,  the  colony,  as  the  source 
of  power,  impressed  itself  strongly  upon  the  minds  of  its 
citizens.  The  mass  of  the  people,  however,  did  not  have  that 
constant  practice  in  managing  their  own  local  affairs  which 
the  town  system  gave  to  the  New  Englander.  Jefferson  thus  ex 
pressed  his  appreciation  of  Virginia's  lack  of  proper  local  or 
ganization:  "Those  wards,  called  townships  in  New  England, 
are  the  vital  principle  of  their  government,  and  have  proved 
themselves  the  wisest  invention  ever  devised  by  the  wit  of 
man  for  the  perfect  exercise  of  self-government,  and  for  its 
preservation". 

In  the  middle  colonies  neither  the  county  system  of  Vir 
ginia  nor  the  town  system  of  New  England  prevailed,  but  a 
mixture  of  the   two.    There  were   counties   and 
colonies  towns  in  both  Pennsylvania  and  New  York;  but 

the  county  was  not  so  important  as  in  Virginia, 
nor  the  town  so  important  as  in  New  England.  In  Pennsyl 
vania  the  county  officers  were  chosen  by  popular  election,  but 
the  township  had  also  its  duties.  In  New  York  the  towns  were 
of  some  importance  and  influence,  but  the  most  conspicuous 
feature  of  the  system  of  this  colony  was  the  election  of  super 
visors  by  the  towns  to  form  a  representative  body  to  regulate 
the  Affairs  of  the  county. 

These  three  systems  of  local  government  are  of  more 
than  mere  historic  interest,  because,  as  the  country  has  grown, 
each  has  played  its  part  in  the  local  organization 
of  the  new  States.  Speaking  generally,  one  may 
say  that  the  various  systems  have  been  carried 
westward  along  the  parallels  of  latitude.  The  town,  commonly 
called  township,  prevails  to-day  in  the  Northern  States  west  of 

ers,  appointed  by  the  governor,  had  judicial  duties  in  the  county  court,  but 
they  also  saw  that  the  laws  of  the  legislature  were  carried  out.  In  New 
England  local  affairs  were  passed  on  by  the  people  in  town  meeting;  in 
Virginia  local  affairs — county  affairs — were  in  the  hands  of  the  commission 
ers  appointed  by  the  governor.  In  New  England,  the  town  meeting  chose 
officers  to  carry  out  the  "town's  mind";  in  Virginia  the  people  chose  the 
"  members  of  the  House  of  Burgesses — the  lower  house  of  the  colonial  As 
sembly;  but  had  no  meeting  and  did  not  choose  the  county  officers. 


130  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

the  Alleghanies,  the  county  in  the  Southern  States.  The 
method  of  connecting  the  town  with  the  county  by  the  election 
of  supervisors  has,  moreover,  been  widely  adopted,  especially 
in  the  Northern  States  westward  to  the  Pacific. 

There  was  great  general  similarity  in  the  form  and  methods 
of  colonial  government.1    Yet,  as  we  have  already  seen,  there 

were  differences.  The  colonies  are  commonly  spoken 
governments  °^  as  royal>  proprietary  and  charter,  and  that 

classification  is  a  useful  one;  but  the  proprietary 
colonies  were  in  one  sense  charter  colonies,  though  there  the 
proprietor  was  the  person  to  whom  the  charter  was  given. 
A  more  exact  division  is  into  Royal,  Proprietary,  and  Corpor 
ation  colonies.  In  the  royal  colonies  the  English  government 
could  in  inconsiderable  degree  manage  the  colony  through  the 
governor,  who  was  appointed  by  the  Crown;  in  the  proprietary 
colonies  the  proprietor  appointed  the  governor,  but,  as  the 
proprietor  lived  in  England,  he  was  thus  subject  to  pressure 
from  the  English  authorities.  In  both  the  royal  and  pro 
prietary  colonies  the  governor  received  orders  and  instruc 
tions  from  a  power  without.  In  the  corporation  colonies  the 
people  elected  their  own  governor  and  had  no  high  official 
placed  over  them  by  exterior  authority.  The  royal  colonies 
were  (1775)  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  North  Carolina,  Virginia, 
New  Jersey,  New  York,  New  Hampshire.  At  the  outbreak  of 
the  Revolution  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Maryland  were 
proprietary  colonies.  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  were 


1  In  marking  out  the  distinction  between  the  colonies,  we  must  also  note 
that  there  were  religious  differences.  The  New  England  people  were  largely 
Congregationalists,  and  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  the  church  re 
ceived  support  by  taxation.  In  the  middle  colonies  there  was  no  single 
fixed  establishment  and  there  were  many  sects.  In  Maryland,  Virginia, 
and  the  two  Carolinas  the  English  or  Episcopal  Church  was  the  estab 
lished  church.  In  all  the  colonies  there  were  sects  of  various  kinds,  and 
many  persons  strongly  opposed  any  prevailing  system  fostered  and  sup 
ported  by  the  state.  The  Roman  Catholics,  though  loyal  and,  as  events 
showed,  good  Americans  in  the  days  of  the  Revolution,  were  generally 
sharply  discriminated  against. 


CONDITION  OF  THE  COLONIES  IN  1760          131 

corporation  colonies,  possessed  of  liberal  charters  which  consti 
tuted  them  practically  into  little  self-governing  republics. 
Massachusetts  had  also  a  charter;  but  the  governor  was  a 
royal  appointee,  and  thus  it  may  more  correctly  be  considered 
a  royal  colony.  Although  there  were  these  marked  differences 
in  the  forms  of  government,  inwardly  there  were  certain  strong 
resemblances.  Each  had  a  governor,  a  council  whose  duties 
were  partly  advisory,  partly  legislative,  and  generally  also 
judicial,  and  a  popular  house  based  on  popular  but  by  no  means 
universal  manhood  suffrage.  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and 
Georgia  had  only  one  legislative  house.1 

.    Everywhere  in  the  colonies  the  spirit  of  liberty  was  "fierce".2 
The  temper  and  character  of  the  people  made  the  broad  founda 
tion  for  free  government.     "In  this  character  of 
iTbertyPm  ^e  Americans  a  love  of  freedom  is  the  predomi 

nating  feature  which  marks  and  distinguishes  the 
whole;  and,  as  an  ardent  is  always  a  jealous  affection,  your 
colonies  become  suspicious,  restive,  and  untractable  whenever 
they  see  the  least  attempt  to  wrest  from  them  by  force  or  shuffle 
from  them  by  chicane  what  they  think  the  only  advantage 
worth  living  for.  This  fierce  spirit  of  liberty  is  stronger  in  the 
English  colonies  probably  than  in  any  other  people  of  the  earth". 
Filled  with  this  fierce  spirit  of  liberty,  the  colonies  were  sure  to 
break  away  from  the  mother  country  whenever  she  abandoned 
her  wise  neglect  and  assumed  the  right  to  dictate  or  control. 
Their  governments  were  already  so  organized  that  a  change 
in  the  monarchial  head  would  cause  no  violent  shock,  no  great 
disruption  in  daily  life  and  industry.  Popular  governors 
might  take  the  place  of  royal  favorites,  and  popular  wishes 
might  be  more  readily  carried  into  effect,  but  the  political 
training  of  the  people  gave  assurance  that,  though  there  might 
be  danger  of  occasional  violence  and  turbulence,  revolution 
would  not  mean  dissolution,  anarchy,  or  riot. 


1  The  pupil  will  be  helped  by  the  study  of  local  and  general  government 
in  the  colonies,  as  they  are  described  in  the  books  on  civil  government. 

2  Burke,  Speech  on  Conciliation  with  America,  Works,  ii,  p.  120. 

10 


132  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

REFERENCES 

CHANNING,  The  United  States  of  America,  Chapter  I;  LODGE, 
Short  History,  Chapters  II,  IV,  VI,  VIII,  X,  XIII,  XV,  XVII, 
XXII  (a  series  of  very  valuable  chapters);  FISHER,  Colonial  Era, 
Chapter  XXI;  HART,  Formation  of  the  Union,  Chapter  I  (1750); 
HINSDALE,  The  American  Government,  pp.  36-51;  COOKE,  Virginia, 
pp.  364-374;  HOSMER,  Samuel  Adams,  Chapter  XXIII;  CHANNING, 
History  of  the  United  States,  Volume  II.  Use  especially  HART,  Source 
Book  of  American  History. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
CAUSES    OF    THE    REVOLUTION 

The  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  wars  found  England 
elated  and  jubilant.    She  had  established  an  immense  empire. 

The  long  struggle  for  the  possession  of  America 
new  duties  was  over>  and  in.  India,  too,  she  had  gained  a 

secure  foothold.  But  her  great  success  brought 
new  duties  and  dangers.  Could  she  rule  wisely  and  well  these 
vast  colonial  possessions?  Could  she  adapt  herself  to  her  new 
situation?  She  was  no  longer  girt  about  by  "the  four  seas"; 
her  tasks  were  world-wide.  To  solve  her  problems  she  must 
appreciate  their  difficulty,  and  act  with  rare  wisdom  and 
sense. 

But  England  inwardly  was  not  in 
a  healthy  condition.    She  was  entering 

upon  a  period  of  indus- 

Representation      ,    •    •,  ,1          j 

in  England.  trial  growth  and  prosper 
ity;  the  period  of  stagna 
tion  was  behind  her,  but  her  political 
system  had  not  developed  to  keep  pace 
with  the  growth  of  her  people.  The  /^Hj^^^^^^^ 
great  underlying  principles  of  her  Con 
stitution  were  good,  and  on  them  a  free 
popular  government  could  be  reared. 
Now,  however,  her  government  was  in 
reality  aristocratic,  not  popular.  The 
whole  system  of  representation  had 

1  Henry  played  a  great  part  in  the  events  that  led  to  separation  from 
Great  Britain.  He  was  one  of  the  greatest  orators  America  has  produced 
George  Mason,  himself  a  man  of  ability,  said:  "He  is  by  far  the  most  power 
ful  speaker  I  ever  heard.  But  his  eloquence  is  the  smallest  part  of  his  merit. 
He  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  first  man  on  this  continent  as  well  in  abilities  as 
public  virtues". 

133 


134  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

become  utterly  wrong  and  foolish.  She  still  clung  to  the  doc 
trine  that  money  must  be  voted  by  the  people's  representatives 
— the  House  of  Commons.  But  the  House  did  not  rest  on  the 
votes  of  the  whole  people,  nor  even,  indeed,  on  a  large  part  of 
them.  Large  and  thriving  cities  were  without  the  right  to  send 
members  to  Parliament,  while  little  boroughs  of  a  few  houses 
had  such  right,  simply  because  they  had  long  ago  acquired  it. 
These  little  places  were  often  willing  to  sell  their  votes,  or  to 
cast  them  as  directed  by  some  nobleman  who  had  control  of 
the  people.  England  needed  to  popularize  Parliament  and  bring 
her  government  into  closer  relations  with  the  people  before  she 
could  wisely  govern  free  Englishmen  in  the  colonies,  who  were 
accustomed  to  think  and  act  for  themselves. 

It  is  probably  true  that,  in  spite  of  these  absurdities  and 
faults  in  the  representative  system,  the  will  of  the  people  of 
....  Great  Britain  was  not  ill  set  forth  in  the  House 

American  idea  of  ... 

representation  of  Commons;  yet  it  is  clear  that  representation 
compared  with  m  America  meant  something  different  from  what 
it  meant  in  England,  and  that  the  American  sys 
tem  was  more  reasonable  and  right.  In  each  of  the  colonies 
there  was  an  assembly  made  up  of  men  taken  from  the  body 
of  the  people.  The  people  of  each  representative  district  felt 
that  they  had  thus  a  part  in  making  the  body  that  made  the 
laws.  In  England,  on  the  other  hand,  men  were  supposed  to  be 
represented  in  the  House  of  Commons,  even  though  great  and 
populous  sections  had  no  participation  in  the  election.  For  this 
and  other  reasons  England  could  not  fully  appreciate  American 
sentiment.  Englishmen  held  that  Am  erica  was  represented  in  the 
English  Parliament,  because  it  was  the  Parliament  of  the  empire. 
An  American  colonist  could  not  understand  that  sort  of  represen 
tation.  In  other  ways  the  colonists  governed  themselves  more 
fully  than  the  people  of  England  governed  themselves.  A  revolu 
tion  set  in  and  the  two  peoples  were  torn  apart,  largely  because 
England  had  now  fallen  behind  the  colonists  in  her  appreciation 
of  doctrines  of  political  liberty  and  her  application  of  them.1 

1  American  students  often  say  that  they  cannot  understand  the  English 
notion  of  representation;  very  well — neither  could  the  Americans  of  a  cen- 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  135 

Moreover,  George  III  had  just  come  to  the  throne  with 
strong  ideas  of  the  kingly  prerogative.  He  aimed  to  control 
Parliament  more  fully  than  had  been  done  since 
the  great  revolution  (1688).  He  had  built  up  a 
faction  of  personal  supporters,  known  as  the 
"king's  friends",  and  sought  to  manage  the  ministry  to  suit 
his  own  desires.  If  this  coalition  between  an  aristocratic  Parlia 
ment,  a  ministry  founded  on  bribery,  and  a  designing  king  were 
once  fully  formed,  the  liberties  of  England  were  in  danger,  per 
haps  were  already  a  thing  of  the  past.  And  so  America  was  to 
fight  for  English  as  well  as  American  liberty.  "America", 
exclaimed  the  great  Pitt,  the  true  founder  of  this  new  British 
empire,  "America,  if  she  fell,  would  fall  like  the  strong  man 
with  his  arms  around  the  pillars  of  the  Constitution". 

An  idea  prevailed  in  England  that  the  colonies  were  the 
property  of  the  mother  country,  that  they  existed  for  her. 
Men  did  not  think  of  the  colonists  as  Englishmen, 
separated  indeed  from  the  old  country  by  three 
thousand  miles  of  water,  but  Englishmen  still. 
They  did  not  conceive  of  America  simply  as  an  expansion  of 
England.  They  thought  of  England's  owning  the  colonies,  and 
too  often  seemed  to  think  that  she  owned  the  colonists.  Thus 
the  whole  basis  of  relationship  was  wrong.  This  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at.  Such  notions  had  prevailed  in  Europe  since 
Spain  had  obtained  her  colonial  "possessions".  Natural  as 
this  feeling  was,  it  prevented  the  English  people  from  treating 
the  restive  Americans  with  fairness  and  with  the  consideration 

tury  and  a  half  ago:  at  least  the  Americans  were  out  of  patience  when  Eng 
lishmen  said  America  was  represented  in  Parliament.  "What"!  said  the 
American,  "are  we  represented  when  we  have  no  voice  in  choosing  mem 
bers  of  Parliament"?  "Certainly",  said  the  Englishman.  "Parliament 
represents  you  because  it  looks  after  your  interests  and  watches  over  you 
tenderly.  A  person  can  be  represented  by  another  even  if  he  does  not  choose 
that  other,  can't  he"?  "Nonsense"!  replied  the  American.  "I  am  repre 
sented  by  the  man  I  choose  or  at  the  very  least  by  persons  chosen  by  the 
people  in  my  county  or  town".  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  Amer 
icans  in  general  sought  the  right  to  send  members  to  Parliament;  they  de 
manded  a  recognition  of  the  right  to  manage  their  affairs  and  vote  their 
own  money  in  their  own  assemblies. 


136  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

that  was  their  due.  "Every  man  in  England",  said  Franklin, 
"  seems  to  jostle  himself  into  the  throne  with  the  king  and  talks 
about  our  subjects  in  America".1 

Up  to  this  time  (1760)  the  mother  country  had  not  tried 
to  tax  the  colonies  directly,  or  to  interfere  in  any  marked  degree 
with  their  local  concerns.  External  trade  had 
Compromise.  been  regulated  somewhat,  and  was  generally 
conceded  to  be  a  matter  for  the  English  Govern 
ment.  But  in  internal  affairs  the  colonies  largely  managed 
their  own  concerns.  The  colonies  flourished  in  neglect.2  When 
it  was  suggested  to  wise  old  Robert  Walpole  that  he  tax  the 
colonies,  he  exclaimed,  "What!  I  have  old  England  set  against 
me,  and  do  you  think  I  will  have  new  England  likewise"? 
England  should  have  rested  content  with  this  practical  and 
sensible  compromise.  It  might  be  asserted  that  it  was  illogical, 
and  that  the  British  Parliament  was  supreme  over  the  colonies 
and  had  as  good  right  to  pass  laws  for  the  internal  manage 
ment  of  the  colonies  as  to  make  regulations  for  external  trade. 
But  it  was  not  a  question  of  logic;  it  was  a  question  of 
common  sense. 

As  early  as  1651,  in  the  time  of  Cromwell,  England  legis 
lated  in  behalf  of  English  commerce  to  cut  off  any  profit  there 

1  The  cause  of  the  American  Revolution  was,  as  much  as  any  one  thing, 
the  sense  of  superiority  felt  by  Englishmen  and  especially  by  the  ruling 
classes.    One  noble  lord  declared  it  absurd  that  men  of  a  mercantile  cast 
should  be  "every  day  collecting  themselves  and  debating  about  political 
matters".    The  lackey  that  polished  his  master's  boots  or  arranged  the  lace 
on  his  master's  fine  coat  felt  a  little  up  in  the  world  when  he  spoke  of  "our 
subjects  in  America".    And  yet,  here  of  course,  we  can  exaggerate — many 
a  man  among  the  poorer  classes,  yes  and  sometimes  one  farther  up  the  scale, 
knew  that  when  he  chided  America  or  praised  the  English  representative 
system  he  was  defending  what  Pitt  called  the  "rotten  part  of  the  constitu 
tion". 

2  "The  colonies",  said  Burke,  "in  general  owe  little  or  nothing  to  any 
care  of  ours,  .  .  .  but  through  a  wise  and  salutary  neglect  a  generous  nature 
has  been  suffered  to  take  her  own  way  to  perfection".    This  is  of  course  an 
extreme  statement,  though  it  is  essentially  true.    For  decades  English  ad 
ministrators  had  sought  to  bring  order  and  system  into  colonial  management 
and  to  make  something  like  a  real  empire;  but  the  work  had  been  fitful  and 
in  part  fruitless. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  137 

might  be  to  foreign  countries  in  trading  with  her  colonies. 
After  this  time  laws  multiplied,  all  directed  toward  the  same 

end,  namely,  the  holding  of  the  entire  colonial 
laws navigatl<  l  commerce  in  her  own  hands.  Only  English  or 

colonial  ships  could  carry  on  colonial  trade;  the 
most  important  products  of  the  colonies  could  be  carried  only 
to  England,  and — perhaps  most  important  of  all — foreign 
goods  could  not  be  brought  to  the  colonies  except  under  heavy 
duty,  unless  first  shipped  from  an  English  port.  In  other  words,, 
the  colonies  were  restricted  to  the  English  market  and,  save 
where  they  had  their  own  vessels,  to  English  carriers;  and  they 
were  not  allowed  to  import  foreign  goods  save  by  using  the 
English  merchants  as  their  factors.  Moreover,  trade  between 
the  colonies  was  restricted.  In  addition  to  all  this,  acts  had 

been  passed  to  stamp  out  the  beginnings  of  Amer- 

Acts  of  trade.        .  r  •  ?  i       • 

lean  manutactures  in  order  that  the  colonies 
might  be  dependent  on  England  for  supplies.  It  must  be  said 
that  other  countries  with  colonial  possessions  treated  their 
colonists  with  less  consideration  than  England  did.  In  some 
respects  English  legislation  favored  colonial  enterprise,  and  up 
to  the  time  of  the  last  French  war  the  laws  do  not  seem  to  have 
injured  the  colonies  materially.  An  attempt  to  enforce  them, 
however,  and  to  secure  not  simply  a  monopoly  of  American 
trade  but  to  obtain  revenue,  irritated  the  colonies  and  helped 
to  bring  on  disaster.1 

The  navigation  laws  had  not  been  rigidly  enforced.  They 
were  constantly  broken.  But  now,  before  the  end  of  the 

1  There  was  one  law,  the  famous  Molasses  Act  of  1733,  which  sought  to 
cut  off  American  trade  with  the  French  and  Spanish  West  Indies  by  placing 
heavy  duty  on  molasses  brought  from  these  foreign  colonies,  and  this  act 
was  constantly  broken  by  the  New  Englanders.  They  wanted  molasses  out 
ot  which  to  make  New  England  rum,  portions  of  which  were  carried  away 
to  form  the  basis  of  the  nefarious  slave  trade,  and  they  wanted  to  carry 
their  fish  and  lumber  to  the  West  Indies  .and  get  molasses  and  sugar  and 
silver — real  silver — for  their  cargoes.  Much  of  the  American  trade  with 
Europe  was  carried  on  with  England  alone  and  in  accord  with  the  principle 
of  the  Navigation  Acts;  but  even  in  the  European  trade  the  Americans 
sometimes  disregarded  the  acts,  while  the  Molasses  Act  was  almost  a  dead 
letter. 


138  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

French  war,  the  ministry  became  infatuated  with  the  idea  of 
stopping  this  lawlessness  and  enforcing  the  acts.  One  of  the 
means  employed  was  the  issuing  of  general  war- 
rants  to  searcn  for  smuggled  goods.  These  warrants 
were  called  "writs  of  assistance".  Such  a  writ 
gave  general  and  not  particular  instruction  to  the  revenue 
officers.  It  was  good  for  an  indefinite  time,  and  might  serve  as 
authority  for  search  in  any  suspected  place.  Such  a  power 
in  the  hands  of  an  officer  is  dangerous  to  liberty.1  In  1761  a 
great  case  arose.  James  Otis,  a  young  and  brilliant  lawyer, 
argued  before  the  Superior  Court  of  Massachusetts  against  the 
validity  of  these  writs,  and  declaimed  against  them  with  soul- 
stirring  eloquence.  "A  man's  house  is  his  castle",  he  exclaimed; 
"and  whilst  he  is  quiet  he  is  as  well  guarded  as  a  prince  in  his 
castle".  He  held  up  to  view  the  fundamental  principles  of 
English  liberty  which  the  English  constitution  embodied  and 
declared  "An  act  against  the  constitution  is  void".  "Then 
and  there",  said  John  Adams,  "was  the  first  scene  of  the  first 
act  of  opposition  to  the  arbitrary  claims  of  Great  Britain.  Then 
and  there  the  child  of  Independence  was  born". 

Shortly  after  this  Patrick  Henry  made  a  great  speech  in 
Virginia.    A  statute  had  been  passed  by  the  Virginia  Legisla 
ture  that  materially  lessened  the  income  of  the 
clergymen,  which  was  payable  in  tobacco.    This 


act  was  declared  void  by  royal  authority  in 
England.  A  clergyman  now  brought  suit  to  obtain  his  dues 
under  the  law  as  it  existed  before  this  statute  was  passed.  Henry 
was  retained  for  the  defense,  and  poured  out  his  torrents  of 
new-found  eloquence  in  defense  of  the  right  of  the  colonial  legis 
lature  to  pass  such  laws  as  it  chose,  without  reference  to  the 
gracious  permission  of  the  English  king.  He  declared  "that  a 
king,  by  disallowing  acts  of  this  salutary  nature,  from  being  the 
father  of  his  people  degenerates  into  a  tyrant,  and  forfeits  ail 
right  to  his  subjects'  obedience".  The  jury  brought  in  a  ver- 

1  Notice  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  Amendments,  Article  IV, 
where  general  warrants  are  made  illegal. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  139 

diet  of  one  penny  damage  for  the  poor  parson.  Thus  it  appears 
that  in  Massachusetts  and  in  Virginia  popular  young  orators 
were  ready  to  preach  a  doctrine  that  savored  of  rebellion.  The 
Americans  were  then  faithful  subjects  of  King  George,  but 
Henry  struck  the  keynote  of  colonial  politics  when  he  asrerted 
that  the  test  of  a  law's  validity  was  not  the  kingly  sanction, 
but  the  people's  desire.1 

George  Grenville2  is  said  to  have  brought  on  the  American 

war  because  he  read  the  colonial  dispatches,  and  this  is  only 

an  exaggeration  of  the  truth.    Even  at  the  end  of 

Grenville  ^  Breach  War  there  had  been  an  attempt  to  en- 

determines  to  ^ 

enforce  the  laws,  f orce  the  acts  and  regulations  shutting  off  trade 

with  the  French  and  Spanish  West  Indies,  and 
now,  when  the  war  was  over,  Grenville  made  up  his  mind  to  carry 
out  the  laws  and  even  to  make  them  sources  of  revenue.  The 
Sugar  Act,  passed  in  1764,  provided  for  the  continuation  of  the 
Molasses  Act;  but  it  was  evidently  intended  in  part  at  least  for 
revenue  instead  of  prohibition,  for  duties  were  lowered,  and 
moreover  the  ministry  intended  to  see  that  it  was  obeyed.3  But 
the  New  Englander  had  too  long  carried  on  this  trade  without 
interference  and  he  resented  the  new  intercession. 

England  saw  that  the  colonies  were  prosperous  and  rich. 
She  had  expended  vast  sums  of  money  in  the  late  war,  so  why 

not  tax  the  colonies  and  make  them  pay  at 
™6esStamp  Act>  least  a  part  of  the  expenses  of  caring  for  them 

in  the  future? 4  With  this  end  in  view  Parliament 
passed  the  ill-fated  Stamp  Act.  It  provided  that  bills,  notes, 

1  Tyler's  Patrick  Henry,  chap,  iv,  gives  a  picturesque  account  of  this 
famous  case. 

2  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury  and  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  1 763-65. 

3  "The  custom  houses  were  to  be  something  more  than  cosy  nooks  on 
the  wharves  where  holders  of  sinecures  might  doze  comfortably;  the  ships 
of  war  everywhere  were  to  be  instructed  to  enforce  the  revenue  laws". 
(Hosmer,  Life  of  Thomas  Hutchinson,  p.  52.) 

4  Grenville  forgot  perhaps  that  the  colonies,  especially  the  New  Eng 
land  colonies — those  very  colonies  which  had  the  largest  degree  of  self  gov 
ernment  under  their  charters — had  given  men  and  money  freely  and  had 
fought  like  Trojans  to  beat  the  French. 


140 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


141 


It  cannot  be  said,  therefore, 
that  the  law  was  an  act  of 
greed,  or  of  tyranny  in  any 
large  sense.  But  the  colo 
nists  resented  it;  it  ran 
counter  to  all  their  prac 
tices  and  principles.  Their 
love  of  liberty  was  "fixed 
and  attached  on  this  specific 
point  of  taxing".1 

The  Stamp  Act  alarmed 
America.    The  Virginia  As 
sembly  adopt- 
S^T*"    ed  resolutions, 
offered  and 


marriage  certificates,  legal  documents,  etc.,  should  be  written 
only  on  stamped  paper.  The  revenue  obtained  from  the  sale 
of  stamps  was  to  be  used  for  colonial  defense.  The  plan  was 
not  devised  for  enriching  the  mother  country  at  the  expense  of 
the  colonies;  for  it  was  fully  expected  that  the  tax  would  yield 
not  more  than  £100,000 — less  than  one  third  the  amount 
England  must  expend  to  protect  America  efficiently  from  foreign 
invasion  or  Indian  uprising. 

H  E  LtBXTTENANT  GOVERNOR 

declares  he  will  do  nothing  in 
Relation  to  the  STAMPS,  but 
leave  it  to  Sir  HENRY  MOORE,  to  do  as 
he  pleafes,   on  his  Arrival.    Council 
Chamber,  New-York,  Nov.2?  1765. 
By  Order  of  his  Honour, 

Gw.  Banyar,  D.  Cl.  Con. 
The  Governor  acquainted  Judge  Li» 
wngflon,  the  Mayor,  Mr.  Beverly  Robin* 
£fa Mr.  jM \Stewnt,  this  Morning, 
being  Monday  the  4th  of  November,  that 
he  would  not  iffue,  nor  mffer  to  be  if- 
fued,  any  of  the  STAMPS  now  in.  Fort- 
George.  Robert  R.  Lwingfton. 

John  Cruger* 
Beverly  Rolinfm, 
John  Stevens. 

The  Freemen,  Freeholders,  and  In 
habitants  of  this  City,  being  fatisfiedthat 
the  STAMPS  are  not  to  be  iffued,  are 
determined  to  keep  the  Peace  of  the  Ci 
ty,  at  all  Events,  except  they  fliould 
have  other  Cade  of  Complaint* 

or    by  persons  HANDBILL  ISSUED  IN  NEW  YORK  TO  AL- 
themselves   to 


eloquently    supported    by 
Patrick    Henry,    declaring 
that  "  taxation  of  people  by 
themselves 
chosen    by 

represent  them  ...  is  the 
distinguishing  characteristic  of  British  freedom,  and  without 
which  the  ancient  constitution  cannot  subsist".  The  Massachu 
setts  representatives  called  for  a  general  congress  of  the  colonies. 
In  October  (1765)  delegates  from  nine  colonies  assembled  in  New 
York.  Fear  of  the  French,  dread  of  the  Indians,  and  all  else  had 
hitherto  not  brought  about  union.  Now  in  a  moment,  when 


1  Burke's  Speech  on  Conciliation  with  America. 


142 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


their  chosen  liberties  were  threatened,  they  came  together. 
The  congress  drew  up  memorials  addressed  to  the  English 
Government,  and  a  "Declaration  of  Rights  and  Grievances  of 
the  Colonists  in  America". 

But  the  resistance  to  the  Stamp  Act  was  not  all  by  re^ion- 

strance.     In  Boston  during  the  summer  there  was  disorder. 

The  stamp  collector  was  hanged  in  effigy;    the 

Disorder  and        ,  .  ^  .  .    ,  T        .         „        ,  ?  &J ' 

riots<  house  of   Chief  Justice  Hutchmson  was   sacked. 

Other  acts  of  violence  occurred.  Though  the  town 
meeting  of  Boston  expressed  its  "abhorrence"  of  such  con 
duct,  it  was  clear  that  there  were  some  who  did  not  distinguish 


THE  REPEAL,  OR  THE  FUNERAL  PROCESSION  OF  Miss  AMERIC-STAMP 

A  Contemporary  Cartoon.      From  the  original  in  the  Emmet  Collection, 

New  York  Public  Library 

between  orderly  and  disorderly  resistance.  In  New  York,  too, 
there  were  mobs,  and  there  was  strong  evidence  everywhere 
that  the  act  could  be  enforced  only  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet, 
if  at  all.  Societies  were  organized,  called  "Sons  of  Liberty", 
pledged  to  resist  the  obnoxious  law.  Many  entered  into  agree 
ments  not  to  use  British  goods. 

Meanwhile,    there  were  amazement    and    discomfiture   in 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  143 

England.  The  merchants  began  to  feel  a  loss  of  trade.  Gren- 
ville  had  resigned  before  he  could  see  the  consequence  of  his 
own  well-meaning  folly.  A  new  ministry  was 
confronted  with  serious  difficulties,  for  America 
seemed  actually  on  the  verge  of  open  violence  and 
resistance.  William  Pitt,  who  for  some  time  had  been  kept 
by  illness  from  his  place  in  the  House,  now  appeared  to  sup 
port  the  colonial  cause.  He  declared  that  there  was  a  plain 
distinction  between  "taxes  levied  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
revenue  and  duties  imposed  for  the  regulation  of  trade".  He 
insisted  that  internal  taxation  without  representation  was 
tyranny,  and,  if  the  Americans  yielded,  it  would  be  an  evil  omen 
for  English  liberty.  "The  gentlemen  tell  us",  he  exclaimed, 
"America  is  obstinate;  America  is  in  open  rebellion.  I  rejoice 
that  America  has  resisted".  The  act  was  repealed,  and  there 
was  great  rejoicing  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean.1 

Had  England  been  content  with  this  comfortable  retreat 
all  would  have  been  well.  But  new  acts  were  soon  passed 
quite  as  obnoxious  as  the  old.  The  opponents 
of  the  StamP  Act  had  declared  that  England  could 
not  impose  a  direct  tax,  but  cfluld  regulate  the 
external  trade  of  the  colonies.  Charles  Townshend,  a  brilliant, 
flippant  man,  then  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  proposed  to 
levy  duties  on  goods  imported  into  the  colonies,  as  a  fair  example 
of  external  regulation.  The  act  was  passed  laying  an  import 
duty  on  tea,  paints,  paper,  glass,  and  red  and  white  lead.  The 
writ?  of  assistance  were  declared  legal.  The  revenue  was  to 
be  used  to  pay  the  salaries  of  the  judges  and  royal  governors  in 
America.  From  what  we  have  seen  of  the  struggles  of  the 
colonial  assemblies  in  the  eighteenth  century,  we  may  be  sure 
that  the  object  of  the  duty  rendered  it  doubly  disagreeable; 
if  money  were  thus  expended,  the  governors  and  judges  would 

1  With  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  was  coupled  the  Declaratory  Act 
which  announced  that  Parliament  had  the  right  to  bind  the  colonies  "in  all 
cases  whatsoever".  The  colonists,  though  not  saying  much  at  first  about 
this  declaration  of  unlimited  power  in  Parliament,  never  forgot  it.  If  Par 
liament  has  all  power,  they  said,  what  are  we  but  slaves? 


Glorious  News. 

BOSTON,     Friday  n  o'Clock,   i6th  May  1766. 
THIS    Inffont  armed  here  the  Brig  Harrifon,  belonging 
to  John  Hancock,  Efq;  Captain   Shubael  Ccffin^   in  6 
Weeks  and    2   Days  from  LONDON,   with  important 
News,  as  follows. 

From  the  LONDON  GAZETTE. 
We/tminfler ,      Mtrcb   f  S  l  h ,    1766. 

THIS  day  his  M.ijefly  came  to  tke  Koufeof:  P.*rs.  an-J  being  in  his  royal 
robes  letted  on  (Tie  tlironc  «nih  Uic  ufu?!  (alemmty,  Sir  Francis  Moli« 
neux.  Gendemsji  Uflier  of  the  Black  Rud,  was   lent  wiiH  a  Mcflaga 
from  h«  Majelly  to  tlic  Houle  or  Cormnaos,  commanding  their  atten 
dance  in  the  Houfe  of  Peers.     The  Commons  beuvg  come  thither  accordingly, 
lus  Majefly  vva*  pfeafed  to  give  his  royal  affcnr  CD 

An  ACT  *o  REPEAL  an  Aft  made  in  the  bft  Scflion  of  Pniliamcnf,  ia- 
ttfulcd,  an  Acl  for  granting  r.nd  applying  certain  Stamp- Danes  and  other  Duties 
in  the  Brkiih  Colonies  and  Planunons  in  America,  toward*  further  defraying 
the  ex pcnces  of  defending,  protecting  and  fccunng  tlic  fame,  ami  for  amending 
fuch  parts  of  the  fcveral  Ails  of  Parliament  reJanng  to  the  trade  and  revenues 
of  the  hid  Colonies  and  Pbntanons.  as  direft  the  manner  of  determining  and 
recovci  mg  the  penalties  and  forfeitures  therein  mentioned. 
AJfo  ren  public  bills,  and  fcrentcen  pn?at»oncs. 


When  the  KING  *cnt  to  the  Houfc  of  Peers  to  give  the  RoyalAfllnt.  there 
u»as  fucli  a  va(l  Concourle  of  People,  hu/xamg,  clapping  Hands,  &c.  that  it 
was  fevcral  Huuts  befpic  His  Ma^jHy  readied  i!'C  Houic. 

Immediately'oo  H<s  •Majclly's  Signing  the  Royal  Alfent  to  the  Repeal  of  the 
Stamp-  Ajfl  .the  Merchants  trading  to  America.difpatcl.cd  a  VcfTcl  which  had  been 
in  waiting,  to  pot  into  (he  firfl  Port  on  the  Cortthicnr  «itl»  tlie  Account.  , 

There  were  tliegrcntell  Rejoicings  po/Tible  in  thcCity  of  London,  by  all  Ranks 
of  People,  on  the  TOTAL  Repeal  of  the  S:amp-A.<fr.—  the  Ships  in  the  River 
cfilplayed  all  thctrCr^out'Sf  llj^n;.:u(inns  2ncLB°r|ftr<'-'J  in  manv  Parts.  _  —  In 
(hurt,  the  Rejoicings  were  as  great  A\  was  etcr  known  on  any  Occasion. 

It  is  faid  the  A<fh  of  Trade  relating  to  America  wotiKI  be  taken  under  Con- 
fidcration.  and  all  Grievances  removed.  The  Friends  10  America  arc  very  pow 
erful,  and  difpofcd  ro  afTid  us  to  rhe  utrooft  of  ihcir  Ability. 

Capt.  Blake  failed  tlic  fame  Day  with  Capt,  C&fBn,  and  Capt.  Shand  a  Fort- 
eight  before  him,  both  bound  to  thi*  Porr. 

//  /'/  impoffiblc  to  exprefs  the  Joy  the  To-ani  it  nw  in.  on  receiving  I  he 
obne,  great,  glorious  ami  impirlant  NEWS~-Th<:  Belli  n  -II  the  Churches 
wtrf  immediately  fet  a  Ringing,  and  ue  hefr  the  "Day  for  a  general  Rejoicing 
•will  be  the  beginning  of  next  ff'fel. 

----  vyvx,<^v\j  —  .  —  •  ---  -«  --  • 

PRTNTED  for  the  Benefit  of  the    PUBLIC,     by 
Drapers,    Edei  &  G///,   Green  &   Ru/el!t  and  Fleets. 
The  Cufloaiers  to  ihc  BoftonPapt;s  may  fjaTC  ihc  above  gratis  at  thcrcfpcclive 


HANDBILL  ANNOUNCING  REPEAL  OF  THE  STAMP  ACT 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  145 

be  entirely  removed  from  popular  control.  Added  to  this 
grievance  was  the  fact  that  about  this  time  Parliament  sus 
pended  the  legislative  functions  of  the  New  York  Assembly, 
because  it  had  not  made  suitable  provision  for  quartering  the 
British  troops. 

The  colonists  protested  against  the  Townshend  acts.    There 
was  a  clear  practical  distinction  between  "regulation"  and 
duties  for  revenue.     Samuel  Adams,   "the  man 
protest*.  °f  t^ie  town  meeting",  was  now  clerk  of  the  Mas 

sachusetts  Assembly.  In  this  position  he  was 
active  in  keeping  resentment  at  the  proper  pitch.  He  wrote  a 
series  of  addresses  that  were  issued  by  the  Assembly.  The 
most  important  document  of  all  was  a  circular  letter  sent  to 
the  other  colonies  asking  cooperation  and  consultation.  John 
Dickinson,  of  Pennsylvania,  wrote  at  this  time  the  famous 
"Farmer's  Letters",  full  of  good  sense  and  shrewd  reasoning. 
"English  history",  he  hinted,  "affords  examples  of  resistance". 
Non-importation  and  non-consumption  agreements  were  en 
tered  into.  Some  revenue  was  obtained  under  the  act,  but  the 
net  returns  were  a  mere  trifle.  Troops  were  sent  to  Boston  in 
the  autumn  of  1768.  From  this  time  on  Boston  was  the  center 
of  attention. 

Shortly  after  the  passage  of  the  Townshend  acts  Parliament 
petitioned  the  king  that  persons  in  the  colonies  charged  with 
treason  should  be  carried  to  England  for  trial. 

This  seems  to  have  been  a  mere  threat,  but  if  Par 
liament  was  not  in  earnest  it  was  playing  with  a 
sacred  right,  the  right  of  an  Englishman  to  be  tried  by  a  jury 
of  the  vicinage  or  the  neighborhood.     To  withhold  this  privilege 
was  tyranny.1    On  hearing  of  this  action  by  Parliament,  the 

1  It  is  nowhere  more  strikingly  denounced  than  in  Burke 's  Letter  to  the 
Sheriffs  of  Bristol.  "A  person  is  brought  hither  in  the  dungeon  of  a  ship's 
hold;  thence  he  is  vomitted  into  a  dungeon  on  land,  loaded  with  irons,  un 
furnished  with  money,  unsupported  by  friends,  three  thousand  miles  from 
all  means  of  calling  upon  or  confronting  evidence,  where  no  one  local  cir 
cumstance  that  tends  to  detect  perjury  can  possibly  be  judged  of: — such  a 
person  may  be  executed  according  to  form,  but  he  can  never  be  tried  accord 
ing  to  justice". 


146 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


The  Virginia 
resolves. 


AMERICANS! 


Virginia  House  passed  a  series  of  resolves.  They  assured  the 
king  of  the  loyalty  of  his  subjects,  but  asserted  in  unmistakable 
language  the  right  of  petition  and  the  privilege 
of  self -taxation,  and  declared  that  sending  persons 
"beyond  the  sea  to  be  tried  is  highly  derogatory 
of  the  rights  of  British  subjects". 

In  1770  the  Townshend  acts  were  modified.  The  duty 
was  taken  off  all  the  articles  save  tea,  but  the  act  so  altered 
was  as  obnoxious  as  before.  The  discussion  in 
ftaPkenCiPle  ^  Parliament  disclosed  the  utter  failure  of  many  to 
appreciate  the  principles  which  the  colonists 
cherished.  It  was  not  a  paltry  £40,000  a  year  that  was  at 
stake;  the  principle  of  self -taxation  and  the  rights  of  the 
popular  assemblies  were  in  danger.  This  is  what  Webster 
meant  when  he  said  at  a  later  day,  "They  went  to  war 
against  a  preamble.  They  fought  seven  years  against  a 
declaration".  . 

Meanwhile  the  British  troops 
in  Boston  were  a  constant  irri 
tant.  The  House  of 
Representatives  re 
fused  to  legislate  or 
pass  bills  of  supply.  They  de 
nounced  a  standing  army  as  a 
menace  to  their  liberties,  and 
absolutely  refused  to  pay  for 
quartering  the  troops  (1769). 
The  soldiers  on  the  streets  were 
a  source  of  annoyance  and  were 
often  insulted  and  provoked  by 
crowds  of  men  and  boys,  who 
delighted  in  teasing  them.  On 
the  night  of  March  5,  1770, 
occurred  the  "Boston  Massacre".  A  small  guard  of  sol 
diers,  irritated  beyond  endurance,  fired  into  a  crowd  and 
instantly  killed  three  persons  and  wounded  several  others,  two 
mortally.  Only  the  immediate  arrest  of  the  offending  soldiers 


The    HORRID     MASSACREl 
Perpetrated  in  Kingtftteet.  BOSTON. 

New-Engfand. 
On  the  Evening  of  March  the  Fifth,    1770. 

When  FIVE  of  your  fellow  countrymen, 
GRAY.  MA\«ICK,  CALDWRIL.  ATTUCKS. 

and  CARE. 

Lay  vJallowing  in  their  Gore  t 
Beine   kafrly,  and    moft  inbama 

MURDERED! 

And  SIX  others  badly  WOUNDED  ! 

By    a  Party  of  chc    XXIXti>    Regiment 

Under  the  command  01  Capt.  Tho.  Ptefton. 

ftCMCMUCft! 

ThitTwo  of  the  MURDERER* 

Were   convirted  of   MANSLAUGHTER! 

By    a   Jury,    of  whom  1  (lull  fay 

NOTHING, 
Branded  in   the   htndl 

And  dijmffcd, 

The  others  were  Acoj/iTTtD, 
And  their  Captain  .PENSIONED! 

PORTION  OF  A  HANDBILL  RECALL 
ING  THE  BOSTON  MASSACRE 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  14? 

prevented  a  serious  riot.  The  town  meeting  next  day,  under 
the  lead  of  Samuel  Adams,  demanded  the  immediate  with 
drawal  of  the  troops  from  the  town.  To  this  demand  the 
authorities  finally  acceded,  and  stationed  the  soldiers  on  an 
island  in  the  harbor.  The  massacre  caused  great  excitement 
throughout  the  colonies.  When  the  soldiers  were  tried  on  the 
charge  of  murder,  they  were  defended  by  John  Adams  and 
Josiah  Quincy,  two  bright  young  lawyers,  whose  devotion  to  the 
popular  cause  had  not  stifled  their  sense  of  justice.  Two  sol 
diers  were  found  guilty  of  manslaughter  and  slightly  punished. 
For  some  time  there  was  quiet;  but  all  danger  was  not 
removed.  By  this  time  Samuel  Adams  had  made  up  his  mind 
that  the  colonies  ought  to  be  independent.  He 
Local  worked  without  ceasing.  In  1772  he  moved  in  the 

committees  of 

correspondence.  Boston  town  meeting  the  appointment  of  a  com 
mittee  "  to  state  the  rights  of  the  Colonists  and  of 
this  province  in  particular  as  men,  as  Christians  and  as  sub 
jects;  .  .  .  also  requesting  of  each  Town  a  free  communication 
of  their  sentiments  on  this  subject".  Thus<  was  shown  the 
worth  of  the  town  meeting  as  a  weapon  against  oppression. 
The  Assembly  might,  mayhap,  be  dissolved,  browbeaten,  even 
outwitted;  the  town  meetings,  everywhere  alert,  could  not  be 
crushed. 

In  this  year  (1772)  an  English  ship,  the  Gaspee,  whose 

commander  seems  to  have  been  very  arbitrary  and  arrogant  in 

his  efforts  to  enforce  the  revenue  laws,  was  at- 

The  Gaspee. 

tacked  and  burned  by  a  party  of  Rhode  Islanders.1 
It  was  a  piece  of  violence  that  deserved  condemnation;  but  the 
English  Government  unduly  magnified  the  offense  and  appointed 
a  commission  for  investigation,  which  threatened  to  take  the 
culprits  to  England  for  trial.  The  offenders  could  not  be  dis 
covered,  however,  while  the  high-handed  methods  of  the  com 
mission  aggravated  the  discontent  in  the  colonies.  The 

1  There  were  many  acts  of  violence  during  these  years;  and  we  need 
neither  excuse  nor  commend  them.    But  we  must  remember  that  a  great 
revolution  was  in  progress,  and  that  in  such  times  violent  men  and  wicked 
characters  find  an  opportunity  for  disorder. 
U 


148  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Virginia  Assembly  appointed  a  Committee  of  Correspondence 
to  keep  in  communication  with  the  other  colonies.  Thus  a 
means  was  provided  for  getting  the  colonies  to  act  in  concert. 
"In  this  manner",  says  Bancroft,  "Virginia  laid  the  foundation 
of  our  Union". 

An  act  of  violence  now  occurred  in  Boston,  and  affairs 
hurried  to  a  climax.     To  aid  the  East  India  Company,  Parlia 
ment  had  granted  the  right  to  send  tea  from  the 
PartyB°S         "*  company's  stores  in  England  directly  to  America 
and  had  relieved  the  company  from  paying  certain 
duties  in  England  on  the  tea  so  shipped.     A  duty  of  eleven 
pence  per  pound  was,  however,  collectible   in  America  and, 
though  the  tea  could  actually  be  sold  cheaper  here  than  in 
England,  the  colonists  objected  to  the  duty.     Several  cargoes 
were  sent  to  America  and  when  tea  ships  arrived   in  Boston 
harbor  (1773)  the  people  demanded  that  they  return  and  take 
their  fragrant  cargoes  with  them.     But  the  authorities  refused 
to  give  the  sailing  papers.     On  the  evening  of  December  i6th 
a  body  of  men  disguised  as  Indians  boarded  the  ships,  and, 
breaking /open  the  chests,  emptied  their  contents  into  the  sea. 
Boston  had  thrown  down  the  gauntlet.     The  English  people 
were  outraged  by  this  action.     Fiery  speeches  were  made  in  Par 
liament.     " The  town  of  Boston",  said  one,  "  ought 
The  five  to  ^e  knockec[  about  their  ears  and  destroyed". 

intolerable  acts,  • 

1774.  Another  described  their  acts  as    the  proceedings  of 

a  tumultuous  and  riotous  rabble,  who  ought  .  .  . 
to  follow  their  mercantile  employments  and  not  trouble  them 
selves  with  politics  and  government,  which  they  do  not  under 
stand".  In  this  spirit  Parliament  passed  the  famous  Boston 
Port  Bill,  closing  the  port  of  Boston  until  the  tea  was  paid  for 
and  the  town  became  compliant  and  obedient;  Salem  was  made 
the  seat  of  government.  The  second  changed  the  charter  of 
Massachusetts  in  many  important  particulars,  chiefly  by  extend 
ing  the  power  of  the  Crown ;  town  meetings,  except  for  electing 
officers,  could  be  held  only  by  the  governor's  permission.  The 
third  act  provided  that  if  any  person  were  accused  of  "murther 
or  other  capital  crime",  and  if  it  were  made  to  appear  that 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  149 

1  the  fact  was  committed  in  the  execution  of  his  duty  as  a  magis 
trate,  for  the  suppression  of  riots"  or  in  support  of  the  laws,  the 
accused  should  be  taken  for  trial  to  some  place  outside  the  col 
ony.  This  seemed  to  the  Americans  to  encourage  officers  in 


THE  WISE  MEN  OF  GOTHAM  AND  THEIR  GOOSE 

THE  BOSTON  PORT  BILL  AS  PICTURED  BY  A  CONTEMPORARY  LONDON  CAR 
TOONIST 

From  the  original  in  possession  of  Mr.  R.  T.  H.  Halsey,  and  copyrighted  by 
the  Grolier  Club 

shooting  down  the  people.  A  fourth  bill  provided  for  quartering 
troops  in  America.  A  fifth,  called  the  Quebec  Act,  should  in 
justice  to  England  be  disassociated  from  the  other  four,  but 
the  colonists  objected  to  it  and  classed  it  with  the  others;  it 
established  the  old  French  law  in  Canada,  sanctioned  the 


150  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Catholic  religion  there,  and  extended  the  boundaries  of  the 
province  westward  and  southward  to  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio. 
The  establishment  of  the  despotic  law  of  France,  even  in  the  old 
French  colony,  was  thought  by  the  Americans  to  be  a  menace 
to  free  institutions  in  all  the  colonies.  The  recognition  of 
Roman  Catholicism,  although  in  fact  it  was  a  reasonable  act  of 
toleration,  offended  the  New  Englanders  and  seemed  to*  threaten 
their  chosen  faith.  Moreover,  Massachusetts  and  other 
colonies  claimed,  under  their  charters,  title  to  portions  of  this 
western  land  thus  made  part  of  Canada.  Such  were  the  five 
"Intolerable  Acts".  In  May  (1774)  General  Gage,  commis 
sioned  as  governor,  came  to  Boston  with  additional  troops  to 
see  that  the  laws  were  obeyed.  Boston  harbor  was  closed. 

Again    all    the    colonies    were    alarmed.     Their    political 

theories  were  alike;  the  political  practices  of  all  had  made  for 

self-government.     Now,  in  spite  of  differences  in 

social  and  industrial  condition,  under  the  stress  of  a 

Continental  7 

Congress.  common  danger  and  a  common  fear,  a  new  people 

was  born.  September  5,  1774,  a  Congress  met  at 
Philadelphia.  Delegates  were  present  from  all  the  colonies  save 
Georgia,  and  the  people  of  Georgia  were  known  to  be  in  sympathy 
with  the  purposes  of  the  Congress.  It  issued  a  "Declaration  of 
Rights".  This  declared  that  the  people  of  the  colonies  were 
"entitled  to  life,  liberty,  and  property",  and  that  they  had 
"  never  ceded  to  any  sovereign  power  whatever  a  right  to  dispose 
of  either  without  their  consent".  It  further  asserted  that  the 
colonists  were  entitled  to  the  rights  of  Englishmen, 
'  and  that  the  "foundation  of  English  liberty, 
and  of  all  free  government,  is  a  right  in  the  people  to 
participate  in  their  legislative  council;  and  as  the  English 
colonists  are  not  represented,  and  from  their  local  and  other 
circumstances  cannot  be  properly  represented  in  the  British 
Parliament,  they  are  entitled  to  a  free  and  exclusive  power  of 
legislation  in  their  several  provincial  legislatures".  They  con 
sented,  out  of  regard  to  mutual  interest,  "to  the  operation  of 
such  acts  of  the  British  Parliament  as  are  bona  fide  restrained 
to  the  regulation  of  our  external  commerce".  This  was  a  rea- 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  151 

sonable  compromise.  The  colonies  had  now  come  to  the  point 
where  they  utterly  denied  the  authority  of  the  British  Parlia 
ment  over  them; l  they  had  their  own  "parliaments";  but  for 
mutual  interest  they  promised  to  recognize  laws  passed  by  the 
British  Parliament  that  were  really  external  in  their  operation, 
and  were  acts  of  real  regulation  and  not  of  taxation. 

The  Congress  also  framed  Articles  of  Association,  wherein 

the  delegates  for  themselves  "and  the  inhabitants  of  the  several 

colonies"  agreed  and  associated, "under  the  sacred 

The  association.     . 

ties  of  Virtue,  Honor,  and  Love  of  our  Country  , 
not  to  import  into  America  any  goods  from  Great  Britain,  prod 
ucts  from  the  British  West  Indies,  tea  or  wines.  The  importa 
tion  of  slaves  was  to  cease  December  ist.  Addresses  to  the 
king,  to  the  people  of  the  colonies,  to  the  people  of  Quebec,  and 
to  the  people  of  Great  Britain  were  adopted.  But  more  im 
portant  and  fateful  than  all  these  addresses  was  the  following 
The  address  resolution:  "That  this  Congress  approve  the  oppo 
sition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Massachusetts  Bay  to 
the  execution  of  the  late  Acts  of  Parliament;  and  if  the  same  shall 
be  attempted  to  be  carried  into  execution  by  force, 
Congress  m  suc]1  case  au  America  ought  to  support  them  in 

Boston.8  their  opposition".    This  could  mean  but  one  thing 

— war  with  the  mother  country  if  she  persisted. 

Thus,  little  by  little,  England  and  America  were  estranged 

and  ready  for  open  war;  and  yet  this  does  not  tell  the  whole 

truth,  for  America  was  divided  and  in  England  the 

Differences  in     colonists  had  many  eager  and  able  defenders.  If  the 

and  America,      king  was  obstinate  and  if  Parliament  on  the  whole 

was  incapable  of  appreciating  the  colonial  position, 

some  men  there  were,  like  Burke  and  Chatham  and  Fox,who  were 

1  If  now  Parliament  insisted  on  legislating  for  the  colonies  in  other 
respects,  and  against  the  colonial  desire,  and  if  the  king  accepted  such  acts 
of  Parliament  and  tried  to  enforce  them,  the  Americans  would  have,  in 
their  opinion,  the  lawful  right  to  refuse  obedience.  And  if  the  king  per 
sisted,  he  would  himself  be  acting  beyond  his  legal  authority.  As  yet, 
however,  there  was  little  bitter  talk,  except  among  the  extremists,  about 
throwing  off  the  power  of  the  king.  Compare  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  where  George  III  is  charged  with  giving  his  assent  to  "acts  of  pre 
tended  legislation". 


152  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

not  dull,  nor  short-sighted,  nor  ungenerous; J  many  men  through 
out  the  troublesome  years  that  followed  were  bold  enough  to 
wish  ill  success  to  the  arms  of  their  own  country.  In  America 
the  situation  was  complicated.  There  were  some  leaders,  like 
Samuel  Adams,  who  were  ready  for  war  and  eager  for  indepen 
dence;  others  were  unwilling  to  consider  independence,  but  were 
prepared  to  fight  for  the  maintenance  of  their  "constitutional 
rights";  others,  again,  believing  England  wrong,  preferred 
peace  to  war  and  looked  with  horror  on  the  thought  of  renounc 
ing  the  name  of  Englishmen.  No  small  portion  of  the  people 
were  irreconcilable  loyalists,  opposing  the  radical  leaders  and 
willing  to  give  up  their  all  rather  than  rebel  against  their  king. 
And  so,  while  we  may  trace  out,  as  we  have  done  in  the  preced 
ing  pages,  the  gradual  widening  of  the  breach  between  the 
colonies  and  the  mother  country,  we  must  not  think  that  the 
people  of  either  country  were  altogether  united  in  their  senti 
ments  and  sympathies.  John  Adams  in  later  years  declared 
that  about  one-third  of  the  American  people  were  "Tories". 
And  all  this  means  that,  while  we  speak,  and  shall  probably 
always  speak,  of  the  struggle  between  England  and  America, 
the  war  that  ensued  had  many  of  the  features  and  many  of  the 
deplorable  effects  of  a  civil  war. 

Trivial  offenses  on  the  part  of  government  cannot  justify 
revolution.  Only  oppression  or  serious  danger  can  justify  war. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  people  of  the  colonies 
Was  the  fad  actually  suffered  much.  It  might  even  seem 

justifiable?         that  the  mother  country  vvas  not  at  all  tyrannical 

in  taxing  the  colonies  to  pay  for  defending  them, 
and  beyond  question  George  III  and  his  pliant  ministers  had  no 
intention  of  treating  the  colonists  with  cruelty.  How,  then,  can 
the  war  that  followed  be  justified?  The  Revolution  was  justifi 
able  because  the  colonists  stood  for  certain  fundamental  princi 
ples  that  were  woven  into  the  very  fabric  of  their  lives.  They 

1  Even  after  the  Boston  Tea  Party  Chatham,  though  indignant  at  the 
methods  of  the  Bostonians,  pleaded  for  consideration:  "Clasp  them  once 
more  in  your  fond  and  affectionate  arms",  he  exclaimed;  "and  I  will  ven 
ture  to  affirm  you  will  find  them  children  worthy  of  their  sire". 


CAUSES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION  153 

were  determined  that  no  one  should  take  money  from  them  with 
out  their  consent,  and  that  their  own  local  governments  should 
be  indeed  their  own  and  do  their  will.  They  carried  to  a  legiti 
mate  conclusion  the  true  political  principles  for  which  the  Eng 
lish  people  had  fought  in  the  great  rebellion  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  They  had  a  keener  appreciation  of  liberty  than  any 
other  people  in  the  world.  In  England  a  designing  monarch 
was  intent  upon  making  himself  king  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name, 
and  the  people  seemed  lethargic  and  forgetful  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  English  liberty.  The  average  English  statesman  at 
Westminster — and  few  there  were  that  merited  the  name  of 
statesman — could  not  accept  the  fundamentals  of  the  American 
argument  without  condemning  the  practices  of  his  country  and 
ridiculing  the  whole  representative  system  as  it  then  existed. 
The  colonists,  on  the  other  hand,  cherishing  the  rights  of 
Englishmen,  demanded  the  substance  and  not  merely  the  forms 
of  self-government.  Had  these  self-reliant  people  on  this  side 
of  the  ocean  been  pliant  and  obedient  to  laws  they  considered 
wrong  and  tyrannical,  it  would  have  been  an  evil  day  for  popular 
government.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  American  Revolu 
tion  was  conservative  or  preservative.  Such  it  surely  was;  but 
it  did  more  than  save  the  principles  of  English  liberty;  it  built 
them  up  and  gave  them  a  logical  expression  in  the  institutions 
of  a  free  people  made  by  themselves  and  changeable  at  their  own 
discretion,  and  in  the  growth  of  free  government  resting  on  the 
people  not  only  in  America  but  in  England. 

REFERENCES 

Short  accounts:  CHANNING,  United  States  of  America,  Chapter  II; 
HART,  The  Formation  of  the  Union,  Chapter  III;  HINSDALE,  The 
American  Government,  pp.  52-63.  Longer  accounts:  FISKE,  The 
American  Revolution,  Volume  I,  pp.  1-120;  SLOANE,  The  French 
War  and  the  Revolution,  Chapters  X  to  XIV;  HOSMER,  Samuel 
Adams,  pp. 33-313;  TYLER,  Patrick  Henry,  pp.  32-135;  MORSE, Ben 
jamin  Franklin,  pp.  99-202;  LECKY,  The  American  Revolution,  1763- 
1783;  HOWARD,  The  Preliminaries  of  the  Revolution;  CHANNINC,  His 
tory  of  the  United  States,  Volume  III,  Chapters  I- VI. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783 

During  the  winter  and  early  spring  of  1775,  although  there 

was  no  open  violence,  the  feeling  was  intense.     There  was  a 

sympathetic  communication  from  colony  to  colony. 

situation  in        Each  felt  the  danger  of  the  other.  "We  must  fight" ! 

the  beginning  .  6  .  .    .  ' 

of  1775.  exclaimed  Henry  in  Virginia;     an  appeal  to  the 

God  of  hosts  is  all  that  is  left  us".  But  there  was 
still  no  outburst  of  uncontrollable  excitement.  There  seemed 
to  be  a  determination  that  the  first  blow  must  be  struck  by  the 
British;  for  the  war  was  to  be  conservative  or  preservative 
rather  than  destructive.  Boston  was  almost  in  a  state  of  siege; 
its  ^business  was  thrown  into  much  disorder;  there  were  cases  of 
suffering  among  the  poor  and  the  unemployed.  The  sullen 
persistence  with  which  the  people  neither  fought  nor  relented 
suggested  that  when  war  was  once  begun  only  success  would 
end  it. 

The  New  Englanders,  under  the  lead  of  Massachusetts,  were 
taking  steps  to  bring  about  united  armed  resistance,  when  the 
war  was  actually  precipitated  by  the  action  of  the 
Lexington  and  English  commander.  General  Gage  sent  a  detach- 
Aprii  19,'  1775.  merit  to  destroy  stores  which  the  Americans  had 
gathered  at  Concord,  a  little  village  some  twenty 
miles  from  Boston.  The  movement  was  discovered,  the  country 
was  aroused,  and  when  the  advanced  division  of  the  British  force 
reached  Lexington  in  the  pale  gray  of  the  early  morning  they  found 
a  squad  of  sturdy  yeomen  drawn  up  defiantly  on  the  village  green. 
Called  upon  to  disperse,  they  refused;  and  the  regulars  fired  into 
the  little  company,  killing  seven  and  wounding  several  others. 
The  English  then  proceeded  to  Concord  and  destroyed  the  stores. 
Meanwhile  the  provincials  were  pouring  in  from  the  surrounding 
country,  and  the  British  force  began  to  retire.  The  retreat 

154 


THE  REVOLUTION—  1775-1783  155 

became  little  better  than  a  headlong  flight.  Franklin,  in  his 
humorous  fashion,  wrote  to  a  friend  that  the  British  "  troops 
made  a  most  vigorous  retreat,  twenty  miles  in  three  hours  — 
scarce  to  be  paralleled  in  history  —  and  the  feeble  Americans,  who 
pelted  them  all  the  way,  could  scarce  keep  up  with  them".  The 
news  of  this  engagement  spread  like  wildfire.  Men  grasped 
whatever  weapons  they  had  and  hastened  toward  Boston.  An 
army  was  soon  gathered  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city,  and  the 
people  of  the  colonies  realized  that,  after  ten  years  of  excitement 
and  vexation,  war  was  at  last  begun.1 

The  second  Continental  Congress  met  May  10.     It  became 

the  central  government  of  the  nation,  and  continued  to  be  so  for 

six  years.  Washington  was  selected  commander-in- 


Second  ^jgf  of  ^e  "Continental  Army."     Preparations 

Continental  i     f       ^  r  ,1     "  TTT     i  • 

Congress.  were  made  for  the  support  of  the  troops.  Washing 

ton  was  then  in  the  very  prime  of  life  —  forty-three 

years  of  age,  tall,  stalwart,  and  strong.     His  experience  in  the 

French  and  Indian  War,  his  undoubted  military  talents,  the 

unqualified  respect  which  all  felt  who  knew  him,  coupled  with 

the  fact  that  the  choice  of  a  Southern  general  was 

Washington.  .• 

the  imperative  demand  of  common  sense,  made 
his  selection  the  only  possible  one.  It  was  a  fateful  moment 
when  the  question  was  under  consideration.  From  that  time 
the  Revolution  rested  on  Washington's  shoulders.  Had  the 
task  fallen  to  any  other  man  the  war  would  probably  have  been 
a  failure;  for  he  was  not  simply  a  great  man,  he  was  a  great 
general,  possessed  of  wonderful  judgment  and  self-control,  and 
yet  capable  of  bold,  quick,  decisive  action.  The  campaigns  of 
the  Revolution,  which  can  be  given  here  only  in  outline,  prove 
that,  in  a  century  which  boasted  of  some  of  the  greatest  com 
manders  in  history,  Washington  won  deserved  renown  as  one  of 
the  ablest  of  them  all. 


1  Early  in  May  Ticonderoga  was  taken  by  the  Americans.  Crown  Point 
fell  a  day  or  two  later.  The  capture  of  these  fortresses  was  important,  be 
cause  the  British  were  considering  the  advisability  of  taking  the  line  of  the 
Hudson  and  cutting  off  from  the  other  colonies  the  New  Englanders,  who 
were  thought  to  be  especially  disaffected  and  rebellious. 


156 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Before  Washington  could  take  command  another  battle  had 
been  fought.  On  the  evening  of  the  i6th  of  June  a  force  of 
twelve  hundred  men  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Fresco  tt  pushed  forward  from  the  Ameri 
can  lines  and  took  up  a  position  on  Bunker  Hill,1 
an  eminence  on  the  Charlestown  promontory.  By  morning, 
when  they  were  discovered  by  the  enemy,  an  embankment  had 


jiLe  *i7,  m' 


'*  Concord 


(       m 


BOSTON  AND  ITS  VICINITY  IN  1776 

been  thrown  up,  and  the  continuous  bombardment  from  the 
English  men-of-war  was  of  no  avail  in  driving  the  Americans 
from  their  position.  General  Gage  determined  to  assault  the 
works.  The  world  knows  the  result.  Beaten  back  in  two 
desperate  assaults,  the  British  finally  captured  the  redoubt  when 
the  provincials  had  run  out  of  ammunition.  It  was  a  victory 
dearly  bought,  and  though  the  Americans  were  for  the  moment 
overcome  by  mortification,  their  brave  resistance  to  disciplined 
troops  was  of  great  moral  effect. 

Congress  had  appointed  a  number  of  generals  and  other 
officers  at  the  same  time  that  Washington  was  made  commander- 


1  Breed's  Hill,  where  the  battle  was  fought,  was  in  reality  an  extension 
of  Bunker  Hill,  and  connected  with  it  by  a  ridge. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783  157 

in-chief.  In  addition  to  these  warlike  preparations,  they  sent  one 
last  petition  to  the  king  asking  for  a  redress  of  grievances,  and 
they  also  issued  a  declaration  of  the  causes  of  taking  up  arms. 
The  petition,  of  course,  had  no  effect  upon  obdurate  George  III, 
who,  on  the  contrary,  issued  a  proclamation  against  the  Ameri- 


C  hainfccr  of  Supplies,  Watwtown,  June    18,  1775. 

THE  Welfare  of  oar  Country  again  induces  us  to  urge  yotft 
exertions  in  fending  to  the  Magazine  in  this  place,  what 
—c*n  be  procurcdof  thcfbllowin£  A  ftfclf*?.  Salt  Pork,  Beans, 
Peas,  Vinegar  and  Blankets,  the  prizes  thereof  as  well  as 
the  Carting  {hall  be  allowed  according  to  the  Cuftom  of  your  Place- 
yhichiwe  defire  you  to  certify — It  is  of  the  mmoft  Importance  that- 
the  Aimylbould  befupplied  agreeable  to  the  Refolve  of  che  Con- 
jr  fe  more  efpecially  with  thcfe  Articles,  the  four  firfl  of  which  are 
licccflis  y  for  the  SubfiHence  as  well  as  the  Health  of  the  Men,  «,nd . 
the  other  for   their  Comfort —  J'he  occafum  of  the  Deficiency  in 
J'lunktts  is  moflly  owing  to  a  number  of  JVJcn  cn'ified   froni  BoHon 
ar.d  other  Towns  which  have  been  vacated,  arrd  they  all  muft  be1 

procured  immediately  or  our  \vorthyCountrymen  will  fuffcr, 

As  the  Country  afiurds  every  thine*  in  plenty  neccflary  tofubfift' 
tne  Army,  and  we  cannot  at  prefent  pbtnin  many  things  but  by  your 
/i/Iiflancc,  we  ailureourfelves  that.you  will  act  your  parts  as  worthily 
&  y.m  have  done  and  hope  that  the  Event  of  all  our  exertions  \vifli 
be  the  Salvation  of  our  Country. 
To   (be  Stkamn-  an:i  Commute 
('fCorrejt)<jnJfncefor  the  Towt 

'/  > f.i A . it ***.s»&ttyXjfe*,    D.wo  CtiRpvn,  per  Order  cf 
=:Atfds  Commitccc  of  Supplies. 


APPEAL  FOR  PROVISIONS,  JUNE  18,  1775 
From  the  Original  Broadside  in  the  Boston  Public  Library 

can  traitors,  and  proceeded  to  hire  foreign  troops  to  put  down 
the  rebellion.  Some  twenty  thousand  men  were  employed  as 
mercenaries  against  the  people  in  America,  who  were  risking 
their  lives  for  self-government  and  the  rights  of  English 
men. 

Washington  took  command  of  the  Continental  Army  in 
July  (1775).  The  men  had  come  hurriedly  together  on  the 
impulse  of  the  moment,  and  lacked  nearly  everything  needful 
for  the  long  task  that  awaited  them.  Slowly,  as  the  year  went 


158  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

by,  Washington  made  out  of  the  raw  militia  an  army.     The 
lines  were  drawn  more  closely  around  Boston,  and   at    the 
opening  of  the  following  spring  (1776)  entrench- 
evacuated          ments  were   thrown    up  on  Dorchester   Heights 
March,  1776.      overlooking  the  city.  ^Bunker  Hill  had  taught  its 
lesson,  and  General  Howe,  who  was  now  in  com 
mand  of  the  British  forces,  evacuated  the  city  (March  17, 1776). 
While  the  main  body  of  the  army  was  engaged  about  Boston 
a  daring  attempt  had  been  made  upon  Canada.     Richard  Mont 
gomery  made  his  way  north  by  the  Lake  Champlain 
Attempt  to         route  and  took  possession  of  Montreal.     He  then 
I775<  joined  Colonel  Benedict  Arnold,  who  had  pushed 

his  way  northward  through  the  woods  of  Maine,  and 
the  united  forces  made  a  daring  night  attack  upon  Quebec.  Mont 
gomery  was  killed,  Arnold  was  sorely  wounded,  and,  in  spite  of 
the  fiercest  courage,  the  assault  was  unsuccessful.  The  Americans 
withdrew  and  Canada  remained  in  the  possession  of  England. 

The  early  part  of  1776  was  full  of  encouragement.     The 
Virginians,  fully  aroused  to  hostility  by  the  conduct  of  their 
royal   governor,   were   quite   ready   for   decisive 
eaT^art^f       action-     In  North  Carolina  the  Scottish  royalists 
1776.  were  badly  beaten.1    In  June  Sir  Henry  Clinton 

with  the  British  fleet  attacked  Charleston  and  was 
beaten  off.  The  continuance  of  hostilities,  England's  action 
in  hiring  German  mercenaries  to  suppress  the  colonies,  and  the 
unremitting  diligence  of  the  radical  leaders  were  making  the 
people  ready  to  announce  independence.  The  sentiment  in 
favor  of  total  separation  from  the  mother  country  had  de 
veloped  with  a  slowness  that  seems  remarkable  when  one  con 
siders  that  already  war  had  been  in  progress  a  year  or  more. 

On  June  7th  Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  Virginia,  offered  in 
Congress  the  resolution  "That  these  United  Colonies  are,  and 
of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  States". 
Tne  debates  were  vigorous.     It  was  in  connection 
with  this  debate  and  the  repeated  appeals  for 
unanimity  that   Franklin  perpetrated  his  famous  witticism, 
1  Moore's  Creek,  February,  1776. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783  159 

"Yes,  we  must  indeed  all  hang  together,  or  assuredly  we  shall 
all  hang  separately".  No  doubt  the  thought  thus  humorously 
expressed  had  its  influence  for  harmony.  The  middle  colonies, 
as  yet  unmolested  and  not  feeling  full  sympathy  with  their 
Northern  brethren,  were  inclined  to  hold  back.  But  the  people 
on  the  whole  were  found  to  be  ready  for  the  step.  July  2,  1776, 
the  resolution  was  adopted,  and  two  days  later  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  drawn  by  Thomas  Jefferson,1  was  adopted, 
stating  the  reasons  and  the  justification  of  the  act. 

This  declaration  deserves  careful  study.  The  language  is  so 
well  chosen  and  so  dignified,  its  phrases  are  so  harmonious,  that 
it  must  always  stand  as  a  great  piece  of  literature.  It  embodies, 
too,  a  distinct  statement  of  grievances;  and,  moreover,  lays 
down  the  fundamental  principle  of  democratic  government — 
that  all  men  are  created  equal,  and  that  each  man  has  the 
inalienable  right  to  pursue  happiness.  And  this  means  not  that 
each  man  is  as  good  and  as  strong  as  another,  or  that  idleness 
and  vice  are  as  good  as  industry  and  virtue;  but  that  every  man 
has  certain  rights  which  no  government  can  take  away;  it 
naturally  involves  the  sentiment  that  no  class  of  men,  like  the 
privileged  orders  of  Europe,  is  entitled  to  peculiar  care  and  pro 
tection  from  government.  Such  sayings,  which  pass  over  your 
head  and  mine  now  as  mere  truisms,  were  revolutionary  and 
radical  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago. 

Steps  had  already  been  taken  in  some  of  the  States  to  frame 

State  constitutions,  to  found  a  political  order  suitable  to  their 

new  situation.     This  work,   completed  in  some 

constitutions.      cases  more  quickly  than  in  others,  deserves  special 

thought  and  attention;  for  this  work,  we  might 

well  say,  was  the  revolution — the  transformation  of  the  colonies 

into   commonwealths,   the   establishment   of   governments   in 

accord  with  the  wishes  of  the  people,  the  assumption  of  power  by 

1  See  Morse's  Jefferson,  pp.  32-40.  On  July  5  some  copies  were  printed 
and  issued.  Not  till  August  2  was  the  engrossed  copy  signed  by  the 
delegates.  See  Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History,  vol.  vi,  p. 
268.  One  member  did  not  sign  till  November,  1776,  and  another  not 
till  1781. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783 


161 


the  men  of  Amer 
ica  in  the  States 
scattered  along 
the  ocean  front 
from  Florida  to 
the  Penobscot. 
In  many  respects 
it  is  true  the 
changes  were  not 
marked;  there 
was  little  or  no 
destruction  of  the 
institutions  which 
were  the  results 
of  colonial 
growth;  two  of 
the  States,  Rhode 
Island  and  Con 
necticut,  went  on 
under  their  old 
charters.  And 
yet  it  was,  as  we 
have  said,  of  pro 
nounced  signifi 
cance,  because 
the  new  consti 
tutions  were 
founded  on  the 
people,  and  rec 
ognized  the  ulti 
mate  political 
authority  of  the 
people.  This  is 
a  great  fact  in 
human  history; 
governments  were 
no  longer  to  be 


Washington's  Route 

•i t«n  Burgoyne's          " 

Howe's  « 

St.Leger'a  <<• 


THE  EARLY  CAMPAIGNS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 


162 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


NEW   YORK 

AND  VICINITY 

1776 


the  source  of  power,  but  the  agents  and  the  servants  of  the 
real  governors,  the  people. 

As  we  look  back  now  on  the  Revolution  we  see  that  the 
important  fact  was  not  the  war,  although  it  involved  one-half 
of  civilized  mankind;  it  was  not  the  separation  from  Great 
Britain,  the  mere  breaking  of  the  political  or  legal  bond,  although 
that  was  a  fact  of  no  small  moment.  The  important  fact  was 
that  in  America  a  nation  was  founded  with  a  new  ideal,  and 
that  certain  theories  of  right  were  now  made  real  by  being  as 
serted  in  written  documents  and  by  being  hardened  in  institu 
tions  of  government.  Some  of  these  fundamental  rights,  sug 
gested  in  the  opening  paragraph  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  were  even  more  clearly  phrased  in  other  places  and 

most  notably  in  the  Vir 
ginia  Bill  of  Rights,  a 
noble  public  document. 
In  these  state  papers 
there  appears  clearly  the 
notion  that  governments 
are  of  limited  authority 
and  that  there  are  certain 
essential  rights  of  men 
which  cannot  be  taken 
away.1  In  the  course  of 
the  Revolution  the  idea 
was  plainly  expressed  that 
governments  are  the  ser^ 
vants,  not  the  masters,  of 
the  main  body  of  the 
people. 

From  both  a  military 
and  a  political  point  of 
view  the  city  of  New 

1  The  student  will  be  interested  in  seeing  what  rights  are  laid  down  as 
fundamental  in  the  constitution  of  his  own  State.  Our  present  State  con 
stitutions,  following  earlier  examples,  contain  in  one  way  or  another  Bills 
of  Rights. 


TLA N  T I C      0 C  E  A N 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783  163 

York  and  the  line  of  the  Hudson  were  of  great    importance. 

New  York  had  a  large  number  of  British  sympathizers,  and 

there  was  some  chance  that   through  them  the 

British  prepare    coiOny  might  be  won  for  the  king.     The  Hudson 

to  attack  „          .f  1111  11  ,1 

New  York.  valley,  if  securely  held,  would  separate  the  ever- 
active  New  Englanders  from  their  less  vehe 
ment  brethren  of  the  Middle  States.  Washington,  anticipating 
the  desire  of  Howe  to  get  possession  of  the  city  and  the  mouth  of 
the  Hudson,  moved  his  troops  from  Boston  to  New  York  in 
April.  His  army  was  small  and  very  poorly  equipped,  while 
New  York  was  a  place  very  difficult  to  defend. 

An  English  fleet  with  troops  on  board  arrived  at  Staten 
Island  in  July.  The  army  was  commanded  by  General  William 
Howe.  His  brother  Richard,  Lord  Howe,  was  in 
command  of  the  fleet.  The  latter  was  charged 
with  the  task  of  making  offers  of  conciliation  and 
pardon.  But  he  could  accomplish  nothing.  Washington  said 
there  could  be  no  pardon  where  there  was  no  guilt;  and,  when 
the  proposals  were  made  known  to  Congress,  Governor  Trum- 
bull,  of  Connecticut,  remarked:  "No  doubt  we  all  need  par 
don  from  Heaven;  but  the  American  who  needs  the  pardon  of 
his  Britannic  Majesty  is  yet  to  be  found".  It  was  clearly  too 
late  to  treat  with  the  Americans  as  rebellious  British  subjects. 

Washington  had  posted  a  portion  of  his  troops  on  Brooklyn 
Heights,  hoping  to  hold  the  position.     But  the  English  out 
numbered    the  Americans,  and,  moreover,  could 
Battle  of  Long     strike  where  they  chose,  while  Washington  must 

Island,  August,      ,..,,.,.  ., 

I776.  divide  his  forces  to  meet  the  enemy  at  various 

places.  Howe  decided  to  attack  the  troops  on  Long 
Island,  and  was  successful  in  the  battle.  Many  Americans  were 
taken  prisoners,  and  the  remainder  of  the  army  was  in  a  critical 
situation,  for  they  were  hemmed  in  and  in  danger  of  being 
captured  to  a  man.  Washington  now  executed  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  manoeuvers  of  the  war.  During  the  night  the  whole 
force  was  ferried  silently  and  stealthily  across  the  East  River  to 
New  York,  leaving  the  British  in  possession  of  empty  earth 
works  and  a  barren  victory. 
12 


164  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Driven  from  New  York  City,  Washington  skillfully  and  slow 
ly  retreated  with  his  discouraged  army.  He  was  finally  com 
pelled  to  leave  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  and 
Retreat  across  tne  drearV)  disheartening  retreat  across  New  Jersey 
autumn,  1776.  began.  The  American  army  was  daily  dwindling, 
for  the  soldiers  lost  heart  when  they  were  not  vic 
torious.  In  the  early  winter  the  little  army  of  three  thousand 
men  crossed  the  Delaware  into  Pennsylvania.  Had  Howe  then 
made  a  rapid  march  to  Philadelphia  it  surely  would  have  been 
taken,  and  the  moral  effect  would  have  been  so  great  that  all 
hopes  of  resistance  might  perhaps  have  been  abandoned;  the 
Revolution  might  have  been  a  failure.  But  Howe,  pluming 
himself  upon  his  success,  left  his  troops,  so  as  to  guard  Washing 
ton  completely,  as  he  thought,  and  went  back  to  New  York  to 
hear  praises  of  his  victories  and  enjoy  the  gayeties  of  the  holiday 
season. 

But  Washington  was  not  yet  beaten,  nor  utterly  discouraged. 
Crossing  the  Delaware  Christmas  night,  1776,  he  surprised  a 
company  of  Hessians  at  Trenton,  and  took  a  thousand  prisoners 
and  a  thousand  stands  of  arms.  Then,  retreating  into  Pennsyl 
vania,  he  once  more  crossed  back  into  New  Jersey,  where  by  a 
series  of  brilliant  movements  he  completely  outwitted  General 
Cornwallis,  who  was  the  most  competent  com- 

Irenton  and  '  .  .  . 

Princeton,  DC-  mander  on  the  English  side  during  the  war,  but 
cember,  1776,  wno  had  reckoned  without  his  host  when  he  spoke 

iry'1777'  complacently  of  "bagging  the  old  fox".  In  the 
battle  of  Princeton  Washington  defeated  the  enemy,  and  then, 
though  not  daring  with  his  small  force  to  push  ahead  and 
capture  their  stores,  he  practically  held  New  Jersey  by  taking 
the  heights  of  Morristown.  Thus  in  midwinter  was  fought  an 
important  campaign.  The  losses  of  the  summer  were  in  part 
retrieved.  The  American  general  showed  a  combination  of 
caution  with  boldness  and  skill  in  strategy  that  proved  him  a 
general  of  marked  ability. 

The  experiences  of  this  year  of  active  warfare  taught  their 
evident  lessons.  It  was  plain  that  the  struggle  was  likely  to 
be  long  and  desperate,  and  that  something  must  be  done  to 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783  165 

provide  a  suitable  army,  one  with  some  degree  of  permanence, 
and  not  made  up  of  militia  that  would  melt  away  in  the  day 
of  trial  and  discouragement.  Washington  was 
clothed  with  almost  dictatorial  authority,  but  of 
course  used  his  power  with  moderation.1  Through 
out  the  winter  he  labored  faithfully;  but  by  the  opening  of 
spring  his  force  was  still  small,  and  only  by  the  most  careful 
strategy  and  waiting  could  he  hope  to  accomplish  anything 
against  his  powerful  opponent.  The  outlook  was  indeed  dreary, 
but  there  was  ground  for  hope;  though  Howe  held  New  York 
and  Eastern  New  Jersey,  he  was  hardly  further  ahead  than  he 
was  just  after  the  battle  of  Long  Island. 

The  English  Government  now  prepared  to  take  a  firm  hold 

upon  the  country.     They  determined  to  get  control  of  the 

Hudson  River,  and  thus  cut  off  New  England  from 

center,  im  ^  the  Middle  States-  General  Burgoyne.  was  to 
march  down  from  Canada,  and  Howe  was  to  go 
north  and  meet  him.  Another  force  under  St.  Leger  was  to  go 
up  Lake  Ontario  to  Oswego,  take  Fort  Stanwix,  and  come  down 
the  Mohawk  Valley.  By  some  accident  Howe  seems  not  to 
have  been  ordered  by  the  home  Government  to  proceed  with 
his  troops  up  the  Hudson ;  but  he  ought  to  have  known  enough 
to  go  without  explicit  orders.  Burgoyne  began  his  southward 
march  in  June.  At  first  he  was  successful.  Ticonderoga  was 
taken,  and  the  news  of  his  victory  filled  England 
w^  ^ee  an(^  Burgoyne  with  undue  vainglory, 
from  Canada  Soon,  however,  the  danger  of  marching  into  an 
enemy's  country  began  to  be  made  more  clear  to 
him,  for  an  American  army  was  in  front,  and  the  militia  were 
gathering  behind  him.  He  sent  a  detachment  to  Bennington,  in 

what  is  now  Vermont,  to  seize  supplies;  but  the  militia,  under  the 

' / 

1  In  speaking  of  Washington's  success  at  Trenton  and  Princeton,  one 
ought  not  to  forget  Robert  Morris,  whose  generosity  and  exertions  to  raise 
money  made  these  victories  possible.  His  executive  ability  was  of  great 
service  to  his  country.  He  raised  money  on  his  own  credit  to  aid  Wash 
ington.  "During  December  and  January  he  may  be  said  to  have  carried 
on  all  the  work  of  the  continent"  (Sumner's  Robert  Morris,  p.  17.) 


166  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

command  of  doughty  John  Stark,  simply  annihilated  the  whole 
force.  Aroused  by  this  success,  the  country  rose  to  check  the 
invader,  and  it  was  soon  apparent  to  Burgoyne  that  he  was  in 
a  tight  place.  His  army  was  growing  weaker,  and  he  was  com 
pelled  to  fight  or  starve;  but  fighting  did  not  do  him  any  good. 


THE  SURRENDER  OF  BURGOYNE 

A  British  cartoon  from  the  original  in  -the  Emmet  collection,  New  York 
Public  Library 

His  supplies  were  cut  off,  and  while  the  American  army  grew 
stronger   his  own   grew  constantly  weaker.     He  retreated  to 

"Saratoga,  and  there,  surrounded,  baffled,  beset, 

he  surrendered  at  discretion.  Burgoyne's  defeat 
October,  1777.  was  inevitable,  inasmuch  as  Howe  had  not  gone 

north  to  cooperate  with  him.  Gates,  the  American 
commander,  won  great  applause,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  his 
conduct  of  the  campaign  was  free  from  all  merit,  save  that  his 
very  failure  to  act  gave  an  opportunity  for  the  enemy  to  be 
slowly  weakened  and  overcome. 

Meanwhile  St.   Leger  had  met  with  discomfiture.     In  a 
fierce  battle  at  Oriskany,  the  bloodiest  contest  bf  the  war,  a 

detachment  of  Tories  aided  by  Indians  was 
defeated  at  defeated  by  a  band  of  Americans  under  the  brave 
Oriskany,  o\^  General  Herkimer.  Fort  Stanwix  could  not 

August,  1777.     ^  takeil)  an(j  finaiiy t  Up0n  the  advance  of  an 

army  under  Arnold,  the  British  fled  precipitately. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783  167 

Let  us  now  turn  southward  and  see  what  became  of  Howe. 
Washington  expected  to  see  him  move  northward;  but  he  did 
Howe's  not-  He  prepared  to  march  across  New  Jersey 

expedition  to  and  capture  Philadelphia;  but  Washington  blocked 
Philadelphia.  him  and  worrie(j  ym  ^y  superior  strategy.  Then 

Howe  determined  to  sail  for  the  "  rebel  capital".  In  August 
he  appeared  in  Chesapeake  Bay,1  and  began  his  march  north 
ward.  Washington,  trying  to  stop  the  British  advance,  was 
Battle  of  beaten  at  Brandy  wine  Creek,  and  the  victorious 

Brandy  wine,  enemy  marched  on  to  Philadelphia.  Even  now 
Sept.,  1777.  tke  heart  Of  the  American  commander  did  not 
fail  him.  He  determined  to  surprise  the  enemy  at  German- 
town,  and  he  mapped  out  a  plan  of  operations 
which?  if  successful,  would  have  overwhelmed 
them.  An  attack  was  made  in  the  early  morning 
and  was  almost  a  success;  but  two  advancing  divisions  lost 
their  way  in  a  dense  fog,  and  one  fired  upon  the  other,  thinking 
it  was  the  enemy.  So  the  surprise  was  a  failure. 

And  yet  it  was  not  a  failure.     It  disclosed  to  the  thinking 

men  of  America  and  to  the  onlookers  in  Europe  the  daring 

generalship  of  the  man  who  thus  in  the  face  of 

Effect  of  defeat  ventured  to  plan  a  bold  assault  with  intent 

campaign  on 

Europe.  not  simply  to  annoy  but  to  crush  the  army  that 

had  beaten  him.  European  statesmen  and  mon- 
archs,  who  were  watching  the  "rebellion"  with  utmost  care, 
saw  that  the  colonists  could  fight  with  great  courage  in  the 
midst  of  defeat,  and  that  the  capture  of  the  capital  by  no 
means  meant  that  the  war  was  over. 

For  some  time  Benjamin  Franklin  had  been  at  Paris  as  a 
commissioner  from  the  United  States,  and  had  been  working 
in  his  quiet,  shrewd  way  to  bring  France  to  recog- 
nizejthe  independence  of  the  United  States  and 
take  part  in  the  war.     This  France  was  not  loath 
to  do,  for  she  was  still  smarting  under  her  defeat  in  the  Seven 
Years'  War,  and  was  longing  for  revenge  for  the  loss  of  Canada. 
After  the  defeat  of  Burgoyne  it  was  apparent  that  the  Revolu- 
1  He  landed  his  troops  at  Elkton. 


168  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

tion  had  good  chances  of  success.  France  then  made  a  treaty 
of  alliance  with  the  United  States  (February,  lyyS).1  In  a 
short  time  Spain  and  Holland,  too,  were  drawn,  for  their  own 
reasons,  into  the  war  against  Great  Britain.  Even  before  the 
French  treaty  a  number  of  Frenchmen  came  over  to  help  in 
what  they  considered  a  struggle  for  liberty.  Chief  among  them 
was  Marquis  de  Lafayette.  Other  foreigners  came  also,  and 
one,  Baron  Steuben,  a  German,  was  of  great  service  in  organiz 
ing  and  drilling  the  American  troops. 

This  winter,  which  brought  the  happy  news  of  foreign  aid, 
was  a  winter  of  suffering  for  the  American  army.  It  passed 
the  dreary  months  at  Valley  Forge  in  destitution. 
Washington  did  not  leave  his  men  and  go  home  to 
live  in  luxury,  but  stayed  to  endure  privation  with 
them.  Only  he  who  reads  his  letters  written  during  these  trying 
times  can  appreciate  his  troubles  and  anxieties.  The  worst  of 
it  all  was  that  the  nation  was  not  poverty  stricken.2  The  war 
had  brought  some  hardships  to  the  people,  but  the  country  had 
plenty  of  clothing  and  shoes  and  beef  and  flour.  Why  did  the 
army  not  have  them?  In  the  first  place  many  of  the  Americans 
were  still  loyalists  and  they  did  not  like  to  give  up  money  and 
food  to  "rebels".  In  the  next  place  the  General  Government 
was  inefficient.  Congress  had  no  power  to  levy 
taxes>  {t  could  ask  for  money,  but  not  demand  it. 
It  was  not  well  organized  to  act  as  a  government, 

1  The  end  of  the  alliance  was  asserted  to  be  to  maintain  the  liberty,  sov 
ereignty,  and  independence  of  the  United  States,  "as  well  in  matters  of 
government  as  of  commerce".    The  United  States  guaranteed  to  France 
its  "present  possessions"  in  America,  and  all  that  it  might  acquire  by  the 
war;  France,  in  its  turn,  guaranteed  the  liberty  and  independence  of  the 
United  States,  and  all  their  possessions,  "and  the  addition  or  conquests 
that  their  confederation  may  obtain  during  the  war".    At  the  same  time  a 
treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  was  agreed  upon. 

2  It  is  on  the  whole  a  humiliating  as  well  as  an  inspiring  picture, — this 
brave  Southern  planter  with  his  little  body  of  shivering  troops  in  Valley 
Forge,  his  courage  strong,  his  larder  half  empty  at  the  best,  his  soldiers 
cold,  hungry,  but  devoted.     The  British  troops  and  their  merry  officers 
were  feasting  in  Philadelphia  and  enjoying  warm  houses  and  the  pleasant 
sensation  of  having  full  stomachs.    A  humiliating  if  an  inspiring  picture, 
for  why  were  the  Americans  hungry  and  cold? 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783  169 

being  in  essence  a  convention  of  delegates.  There  were  no 
proper  executive  authority  and  no  judiciary,  and  a  large  body  of 
men  gathered  together  from  different  parts  of  the  country  was, 
of  course,  singularly  incapable  of  conducting  a  war  with  wisdom 
and  economy.  The  executive  work  was  first  done  by  commit 
tees,  and  afterward  these  committees  became  executive  boards. 
Before  the  end  of  the  war  experience  proved  the  desirability  of 
having  a  single  man  in  charge  of  each  distinct  department  of 
executive  work.  But  it  was  1781  before  the  step  was  taken; 
then  a  Superintendent  of  Finance  was  appointed,  and  a  Secre 
tary  for  Foreign  Affairs. 

There  were  other  reasons  for  folly  and  inefficiency.  Some 
of  the  members  of  Congress  seem  to  have  loved  the  intrigues  of 
politics  more  than  the  work  of  providing  for  the  army  and  hold 
ing  up  the  hands  of  its  great  leader.  Moreover,  there  were 
jealousies  and  rivalries  between  the  different  States.  The  course 
of  colonial  history  had  taught  the  people  to  cherish  their  local 
governments  and  to  repel  any  sort  of  dictation  from  without. 
Now  the  people  were  a  nation,  and  all  the  States  had  a  common 
interest;  but  real  national  patriotism  and  fervid  devotion  to  a 
central  government  could  come  only  as  the  growth  of  years. 
In  November,  1777,  Congress  proposed  to  the  States  for  adop 
tion  Articles  of  Confederation.  These  were  not  adopted  by  all 
the  States  for  some  time,  and  did  not  go  into  effect  until  1781- 

In  the  summer  of  1778  Sir  Henry  Clinton  succeeded  Howe, 

and  Philadelphia  was  evacuated.      The  English  army  began  its 

march  across  New  Jersey  to  New  York.     Washing- 

Beginning  of       ton  f  Ouowec[  cautiously  and  then  pounced  upon  the 

the  campaign  J        ,    .       .  .f          ',          * 

of  1778.  enemy  at  Monmouth,  and,  had  it  not  been  for  the 

dastardly  conduct  of  General  Charles  Lee,  who 
disobeyed  orders  and  beat  a  shameful  retreat,  a  complete 
victory  for  the  Americans  would  probably  have  resulted.  As 
it  was,  the  British,  much  discomfited,  withdrew  in  the  night. 

After  Monmouth,  the  English  army,  comfortably  settled  at 
New  York,  did  not  do  much  but  stay  there,  as  if  it  were  dis 
couraged  or  content  with  what  it  had,  and  from  this  time  on, 
there  were  few  conflicts  of  importance  in  the  northern  States. 


170  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Washington  captured  Stony  Point  on  the  Hudson  in  the  summer 
of  1779;  but  he  spent  most  of  his  time  from  now  to  the  end  of 
the  war  in  watching  the  British  forces  in  New  York.1 

It  would  seem  as  if  the  American  general  had  enough  to  do 

in  holding  his  army  together;  for  the  soldiers  were  ill-paid  or 

not  paid  at  all  and  often  in  dire  want;  but  to  other 

Arnold"  troubles  was    added  the  treachery  of    Benedict 

Arnold,  who  entered  into  a  plot  to  surrender  West 

Point  to  the  British.     The  British  messenger,  Major  Andre, 

captured  within  the  American  lines  with  incriminating  letters, 

was  hanged  as  a  spy,  and  Arnold  fled  to  the  lines  of  the  enemy  to 

reap  his  rewards  in  money  and  office.2 

The  Americans,  however,  during  these  years  were  doing  more 
than  wage  an  occasional  battle  with  the  British  army;  there 
was  also  fighting  on  the  sea.  Hardly  had  the  war 
ITO. Pauljones'  begun  when  privateers  crept  out  of  the  New  Eng 
land  ports,  and  soon  their  attacks  brought  dismay 
and  anger  to  many  a  British  ship  owner.  Then  John  Paul 
Jones  appeared  on  the  scene.  In  1779  he  had  charge  of  a  lit 
tle  fleet  which  hung  around  the  British  coasts,  a  constant 
annoyance  to  British  shipping  and  a  menace  to  the  seaport 
towns.  Jones  dearly  loved  a  fight,  and  he  soon  had  one  to 
his  liking,  for  the  duel  between  his  flagship,  the  Bon  Homme 

xThe  winter  of  1779-80  was  a  gloomy  one  in  America.  Washington 
wrote  (January  8,  1780):  "The  present  situation  of  the  army,  with  respect 
to  provisions,  is  the  most  distressing  of  any  we  have  experienced  since  the 
beginning  of  the  war.  For  a  fortnight  past  the  troops,  both  officers  and 
men,  have  been  perishing  for  want.  They  have  been  alternately  without 
bread  or  meat  the  whole  time;  .  .  .  frequently  destitute  of  both  ". 

See  Ford's  writings  of  George  Washington,  vol.  iii,  pp.  155-161,  etc. 
The  volumes  are  full  of  interest. 

2  The  story  of  Arnold's  treason  is  a  story  of  lasting  and  pathetic  interest. 
He  had  been  a  good  officer  and  a  valiant  leader.  Washington  had  treated 
him  with  kindness  and  consideration;  but  Congress,  to  say  the  least,  not 
with  generosity.  In  command  at  Philadelphia  for  a  time  alter  the  with 
drawal  of  the  English  troops,  he  lived  beyond  his  means,  was  surrounded 
with  English  sympathizers,  who  had  had  a  fine  and  merry  time  during  the 
British  occupation,  and  gradually,  burdened  by  debt  and  smarting  under  a 
sense  of  unjust  treatment,  determined  to  become  a  traitor. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783  171 

Richard1  and  the  English  ship  Serapis,  was  one  of  the  oloodiest 
naval  fights  in  history.  The  American  vessel  was  victorious  and 
Jones  was  the  hero  of  Europe.  "His  exploits  were  told  and 
told  again  in  the  gazettes  and  at  the  drinking  tables  on  the 
street  corners". 

No  account  of  the  Revolution — no  matter  how  brief  it  may 
be — can  omit  the  trials  of  the  frontiersmen  and  the  part  theyf 
The  West  played  in  the  conflict;  for  in  the  back  country  were 
Indians,  often  aided  by  Tories  or  a  few  English 
men,  ready  to  attack  the  outlying  settlements,  to  burn,  to 
pillage  and  to  kill.  The  Wyoming  Valley  in  northern  Penn 
sylvania  and  Cherry  Valley  in  New  York  were  the  scene 
of  horrible  massacres,  and,  in  1778,  General  Sullivan  marched 
into  the  region  with  an  army  and  punished  the  Indians  relent 
lessly  and  thoroughly. 

But  the  most  important  events  of  the  frontier  struggle 
occurred  in  the  Kentucky  country  and  in  the  region  north  of  the 
Ohio.  For  some  years  past  hardy  woodsmen  had  been  moving 
into  the  great  valley  beyond  the  mountains,  and  building 
palisades  and  clustering  log-houses  in  the  dark  forests.  Their 
daily  lives  were  spent  in  danger;  but  they  seemed  to  know  no 
fear;  their  trusty  long-barreled  rifles  were  never  far  from  their 
hands;  the  axe  for  the  trees,  the  hoe  for  the  corn,  the  rifle  for 
the  Indians — these  were  the  weapons  by  which  the  West  was 
won  for  the  white  man.  After  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution, 
the  frontiersmen  were  repeatedly  attacked  by  parties  of  the  red 
men  from  the  north. 

Chief  among  these  frontiersmen  was  George  Rogers  Clark, 
a  daring  spirit  and  a  leader  of  men.  Making  up  his  mind  not  to 
rest  contented  with  defense,  he  sought  and  pro- 
cured  authority  from  Patrick  Henry,  then  Gov 
ernor  of  Virginia,  to  enlist  men,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1778  he  made  his  way  to  Kaskaskia,  an  old  French  set 
tlement  in  the  Illinois  country.  This  he  captured  and  then 

1  Bon  Homme  Richard  means  good  man  Richard;  a  name  taken  in  honor 
of  Poor  Richard's  Almanac,  a  book  of  Franklin's  filled  with  homely  truths 
and  wise,  quaint  sayings. 


172 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


CLARK'S  CAMPAIGN  IN  THE  WEST 


took  Vincennes  in  what  is  now  Indiana.  The  British  general 
at  Detroit,  the  "hair-buyer",  the  man  who  was  charged  with 
buying  scalps  and  inciting  the  Indians  in  their  awful  work, 
re-captured  Vincennes.  But  Clark  was  not  to  be  foiled  or 

beaten;  with  a  little  com 
pany  of  courageous  follow 
ers  he  crossed  from  Kas- 
kaskia  in  the  dead  of 
winter — -a  terrible  journey 
over  prairies  drowned  in 
half  frozen  water — took 
Vincennes,  and  made 
Hamilton  prisoner  (1779). 
Thus  in  the  West  the 
frontiersmen  did  great 
things:  they  took  posses 
sion  of  a  wide  stretch  of 
country,  overawed  the  Indians,  overthrew  in  part  the  English  rule, 
and  nailed  the  American  flag  to  the  log  forts  in  the  wilderness. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  (1778)  the  British,  while 
still  holding  New  York,  turned  their  attention  to  the  Southern 
States.     Savannah  was  taken  and  then  Charles- 
s^urth,ni778-8o.   ton-     Cornwallis  took  command  of  the  British 
forces  in  the  South  and   entered   on   a  vigorous 
campaign.     The  patriots   under   Marion   and   Sumpter   were 
fighting  valiantly,  but  Gates,  who  was  sent  to  confront  Corn 
wallis,  began  a  career  of  incompetence,  if  not  stupidity.     On 
the  1 6th  of  August  he  was  disastrously  defeated  in  the  battle  of 
Camden,  and,  not  waiting  to  make  an  orderly  re- 
treat  but  leaving  his  army  behind  him,  fled  two 
hundred  miles  in  three  and  a  half  days. 
The   year    brought   one   victory  to   the   American    arms. 
King,8  In  October  a  body  of  English  and  Tories  was 

Mountain,  beaten  by  a  force  of  mountaineers  and  back- 
october.  1780.  woodsmen  in  the  battie  Of  King's  Moifntain. 1 

1  Read  Roosevelt,  The  Winning  of  the  West,  vol.  ii,  pp.  241-295.    A 
very  interesting  book. 


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FIELD  OF  THE  CAMPAIGNS  IN  THE  SOUTH 


174  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

At  the  beginning  of   1781   no  one  would  have  dared  to 

presage  great  victory  for  the  American  cause,  or  to  expect 

the  speedy  close  of  the  war.    The  English  still 

Beginning  of         ^M  Ngw   York.   ^   ^    South>  where    Cornwallis 

was  in  command,  there  seemed  little  hope  of 
anything  like  immediate  success  for  the  patriot  army.  Wash 
ington,  with  praiseworthy  self-control,  remained  in  the  North 
to  guard  against  attack,  and  Greene  took  command  of  the  troops 
in  the  South.  Greene  soon  showed  the  qualities  of  a  first-rate 
general,  and  proved  that  among  the  American  officers  he  was 
second  to  Washington  alone.  Cornwallis  pressed  vigorously 
northward  and,  though  a  detachment  was  overwhelmed  by  the 

Americans  at   the  battle  of   Cowpens,   he  kept 
S'i  81      moving  on,  while  Greene  fell  steadily  back.     In 

March  was  fought  the  battle  of  Guilford  Court 
House.  The  English  were  on  the  whole  victorious,  but  too 

much  weakened  to  go  farther.  Cornwallis  re- 
H^se^March*  treated  to  Wilmington,  and  seemed  for  the  time  to 
1781.  '  '  have  abandoned  his  northward  movement.  Greene 

at  first  pursued  the  enemy;  then,  turning  abruptly, 
marched  south  into  South  Carolina.  By  the  autumn  the  British 
forces  in  that  State  were  shut  up  in  Charleston,  and  the  rest 
of  the  State  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Americans. 

Cornwallis  was  puzzled  by  Greene's  action.     He  decided, 
however,  not  to  pursue  him,  but  to  go  on  to  the  North.     He 

marched  into  Virginia.  There  he  was  baffled  by 
The  general  Lafayette.  "The  boy  cannot  escape  me",  he  said; 
178^. 10  but  the  young  Frenchman,  then  only  twenty-three 

years  of  age,  was  wary  and  cautious,  and  Corn 
wallis  could  not  trap  him.  The  situation,  then,  in  the  summer 
of  1781  was  this:  Washington  was  at  the  North  planning  an 
attack  upon  New  York  City,  which  had  been  held  since  August 
of  1776  by  the  British;  but  he  was  furtively  watching  Virginia. 
Greene  was  in  South  Carolina.  Lafayette  was  leading  Corn 
wallis  a  chase  through  Virginia.  Now,  tired  of  his  unsuccessful 
pursuit  and  strategy,  Cornwallis  returned  to  the  coast  and 
occupied  a  strong  position  at  Yorktown. 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783  175 

Washington  saw  his  chance.  He  found  that  he  could  have 
the  assistance  of  a  French  fleet  that  was  expected  in  the  Chesa 
peake.  He  abandoned  his  plan  of  operations 
surrender  at  against  New  York  and  marched  quickly  to  the 
Yorktown,  South.  Almost  before  Cornwallis  could  realize 
October,  1781.  hig  danger  he  found  himself  shut  up  in  Yorktown. 

Early  in  October  the  bombardment  of  the  works  began,  and  on 
the  ipth  the  besieged  army  surrendered,  and  filed  out  of  its 
trenches  as  the  band  played  an  old  English  tune,  "The  world 
turned  upside  down". 

Upside  down  the  world  surely  seemed.     England  had  come 
out  of  the  French  and  Indian  War  a  great  colonial  power, 

glorying  in  her  achievements,  astonished  at  her 
war/1  own  success-  The  surrender  of  Yorktown  meant 

the  loss  of  her  most  promising  and  fruitful  colo 
nies.  Everywhere  she  was  beset  and  humbled;  but  constitu 
tional  government  was  saved  at  home,  saved  by  an  insurrectipn 
in  the  colonies,  saved  by  the  loss  of  America.  The  King  had 
set  out  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign  with  a  determination  to  be 
King  indeed,  and  not  the  mere  agent  of  Parliament.  The  Amer 
ican  war  was  in  large  part  the  result  of  his  obstinacy  and  per 
severance;  he  had  succeeded  in  keeping  in  office  men  that  were 
out  of  sympathy  with  the  nation,  and  were  at  times  not  in  har 
mony  with  Parliament.  In  attacking  the  American  principle, 
he  had  been  attacking  the  fundamental  principle  of  English 
liberty;  and  had  he  been  successful  on  this  side  of  the  water, 
his  success  might  have  well  proved  fatal  to  the  liberties  of 
England  itself.1  Upon  the  surrender  of  Cornwallis,  Lord  North, 
the  Prime  Minister,  was  compelled  to  resign,  and  a  Whig 
ministry  succeeded  to  power.  From  that  day  parliamentary 
government  was  safe  in  England.2 

1  This  is  what  Horace  Walpole  meant  when  he  exclaimed,  "If  England 
prevails,  English  and  American  liberty  is  at  an  end. " 

2  "The  American  Revolution  was  a  step  in  that  grand  march  of  civilized 
man  toward  larger  freedom  and  better  political  institutions  which  began  in 
Europe  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  has  continued  to  the  present  day.  This 
movement  was  felt  in  England  before  the  American  plantations  were  made. 


176 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


The  war  was  now  unpopular  in  England,  and  a  treaty  of 
peace  was  only  a  matter  of  time.     John  Jay,  Benjamin  Frank 
lin,  John  Adams,  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  Henry 
'  Laurens  were   appointed  commissioners  to  agree 
upon  terms  of  peace.     Jefferson   did   not  leave 
America,  and  Laurens  took  no  important  part.     Adams  was 
busy  in  Holland  and  did  not  appear  in  Paris  until  much  of  the 


FRAUNCES'  TAVERN,  NEW  YORK  CITY 

Washington's  quarters,  November,  1783.    The  house  in  which  he  took  leave 
of  his  officers  at  the  close  of  the  war 

From  Valentine's  Manual,  1854 

work  had  been  done.  The  task  chiefly  fell  on  the  shoulders  of 
t-,vo  men — Franklin,  a  wise  counselor,  and  Jay,  a  young  man  of 
probity,  daring,  earnestness,  and  skill.  Negotiations  began  in 
the  summer  of  1782.  The  commissioners  were  instructed  by 
Congress  to  counsel  with  the  "Ministers  of  our  generous  ally, 
the  King  of  France",  but  soon  after  the  beginning  of  negotia 
tions  Jay  made  up  his  mind  that  France  wished  to  please 
Spain,  who  had  entered  the  war  as  her  ally,  by  preventing  the 
United  States  from  getting  possession  of  the  West,  or  at  least 

.  .  .  The  American  Revolution  was  the  proper  continuation  of  the  English 
Revolution  of  1642  and  1688."  (Hinsdale,  The  American  Government, 
P-  S4-) 


THE  REVOLUTION— 1775-1783  177 

by  shutting  oft  the  Americans  from  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  Western  country  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Appa 
lachians.  Jay  was  determined  that  Spain  should  secure  no  hold 
on  the  West  because  of  any  double-dealing  on  the  part  of 
France,  and  he  induced  Franklin  to  disregard  their  instructions 
and  carry  on  the  negotiations  without  consulting  the  French 
Minister.  When  Adams  came  upon  the  scene  he  agreed  with 
Jay.  How  fai  Jay  was  justified  in  his  suspicions  is  still  a  matter 
of  some  doubt-  But  whether  he  was  right  in  his  belief,  or  not, 
the  situation  ^vas  such  that  the  British  commissioners,  natur 
ally  not  ill-phased  at  the  apparent  break  between  our  repre 
sentatives  and  the  French  Court,  were  induced  to  treat  liber- 
ally  with  t\Q  Americans,  and  they  finally  agreed  to  a  treaty 
which  wa?>  very  favorable  to  the  United  States. 

A  preliminary  treaty  was  signed  November  30,  1782,  and 
a  definite  treaty  the  next  September.  The  French  ministers 
were  themselves  astonished  at  the  success  of  the  shrewd  and 
bold  American  commissioners.1  The  northern  boundary  of  the 
United  States  was  made  to  run  from  the  St.  Croix  River  to  the 
highlands  that  divide  the  rivers  that  empty  into  the  St.  Law 
rence  from  those  that  empty  into  the  Atlantic,  thence  by  the 
Connecticut  River,  the  forty-fifth  parallel,  the  main  channel  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  the  middle  of  the  Lakes  to  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods.  The  boundary  line  then  ran  down  the  Mississippi  to 
the  thirty-first  parallel,  thence  eastward  to  the  Appalachicola, 
and  on  to  the  Atlantic  by  the  line  that  now  forms  the  northern 
limit  of  Florida. 

These  boundaries  seem  definite  and  the  descriptions  suffi 
ciently  accurate;  but  as  a  matter  6f  fact  these  were  drawn  at  a 
time  when  men  were  very  ignorant  of  the  geogra- 
Phy  of  the  North  and  West.  Many  disputes 
arose  in  after  years,  and  nearly  sixty  years 
elapsed  before  our  northern  and  northeastern  boundary  was 
finally' established.  At  this  time  England  ceded  the  Floridas  to 
Spain,  meaning  to  convey  the  territory  south  of  the  boundary 

1  See  Fiske,  Critical  Period  of  American  History;  McLaughlin,  The 
Confederation  and  the  Constitution,  Chaps.  I  and  II. 


178  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

agreed  upon  with  the  United  States 1 — at  least  such  was  our 
interpretation  of  the  cession. 

Thus  the  Revolution  ended  with  the  American  people  in 
possession  of  a  vast  domain  stretching  from  the  ocean  to  the 
Mississippi,  a  territory  several  times  as  large  as 
France,  or  much  greater  than  that  of  any  European 
power  save  Russia.  Already  there  were  visions  of  manifest 
destiny.  The  nation  could  not  long  remain  a  mere  group  of 
States  scattered  along  the  Atlantic  coast.  A  great  political  and 
industrial  future  lay  before  it;  but  it  must  first  find  a  proper 
method  of  national  organization,  must  establish  a  suitable  na 
tional  government,  must  recognize  in  very  fact  the  existence 
of  a  national  life.  Before  these  great  things  could  be  accom 
plished  there  were,  as  we  shall  see,  years  of  confusion  and  times 
that  tried  men's  souls.  "The  new-born  republic  narrowly 
missed  dying  in  its  cradle". 

REFERENCES 

HART,  The  Formation  of  the  Union,  Chapter  IV;  SLOANE,  The 
French  War  and  the  Revolution,  pp.  179-388;  CHANNING,  The  United 
States  of  America,  pp.  72-107;  LODGE,  George  Washington;  FISKE, 
The  American  Revolution;  LODGE,  The  Story  of  the  Revolution;  VAN 
TYNE,  The  American  Revolution;  CHANNING,  History  of  the  United 
States,  Volume  III,  Chapters  VII-XII.  Younger  students  will  be 
especially  interested  in  FISKE,  War  of  Independence;  FISKE,  Washing 
ton  and  His  Country,  which  is  a  simplified  edition  of  living's  Life  of 
Washington;  also  COFFIN,  The  Boys  of  '76. 

1  Inasmuch  as  England  had  some  years  before  established  a  province  of 
West  Florida,  the  northern  limit  of  which  was  about  32°  30,'  Spain  main 
tained  for  some  years  that  her  possessions  between  the  Appalachicola  and 
the  Mississippi  extended  up  to  this  old  boundary  of  West  Florida.  This 
matter  was  not  arranged  until  1795. 


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PACK  OF  WASHINGTON'S  ACCOUNTS 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  CONFEDERATION  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION— 
1781-1789 

During  nearly  the  whole  course  of  the  war  the  Central 
Government  was  the  Second  Continental  Congress.  There  was 
no  written  instrument  denning  the  power  of  this  body.  It  used 
such  powers  as  it  needed  to  use  or  was  permitted  to  use  by  the 
people.  During  those  years  political  institutions  were  forming. 
Mien  were  learning  valuable  political  lessons  from  experience. 
The  powers  that  were  exercised  by  the  Continental  Congress 
were  in  nearly  every  particular  those  that  were  confided  to  the 
central  authority  when  the  written  articles  of  Confederation 
were  agreed  upon. 

In  1777  Articles  of  Confederation  were  proposed  by  Con 
gress  to  the  States,  but  they  were  not  ratified  by  all  until  1781. 
By  these  Articles  was  formed  what  purported  to 
be  a  "firm  league  of  friendship"  between  the 
States.  The  Central  Government,  if  government 
it  may  be  called,  was  a  Congress  composed  of  delegates  annually 
appointed  by  the  States,  and  to  this  body  was  given  considerable 
authority.  It  alone  had  the  right  and  power  of  declaring  war  or 
making  peace,  of  sending  or  receiving  ambassadors,  of  appoint 
ing  courts  for  the  trial  of  piracies  or  felonies  on  the  high  seas, 
of  regulating  the  alloy  and  value  of  coin,  of  fixing  the  standard 
of  weights  and  measures,  of  "establishing  and  regulating  post 
offices  from  one  State  to  another".  It  also  could  build  and 
equip  a  navy  and  raise  and  support  an  army,  and  make  requisi 
tion  for  troops  upon  the  States.  The  Congress  was  authorized 
to  appoint  a  committee  to  sit  in  the  recess  of  Congress,  to  be 
known  as~a  "  Committee  of  the  States".  In  this  Congress  each 
State  had  one  vote;  Delaware  had  quite  as  much  voice  as  had 
Pennsylvania  or  Virginia.  No  step  could  be  taken  without  the 

180 


THE  CONFEDERATION  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION   181 


consent  of  a  majority  of  the  States,  and  for  many  important 
measures  the  consent  of  nine  of  them  was  necessary.  All  the 
States  must  agree  to  an  amendment  or  alteration  in  the  Articles. 


<>  UNITED  STATES  o 

\     AT  THE  END  OF  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR.     O 
SHOWING  WESTERN  LAND  CLAIMS  OF  THE  STATES  1783 


This  Congress  stood  forth  as  the  representative  of  the  Ameri 
can  people,  and  it  had  many  duties  and  responsibilities;  but 
there  was  no  effectual  means  given  of  executing  its  laws  or  of 
raising  the  money  which  was  so  needful.  No  power  was  given  it 
to  collect  taxes  directly  from  individuals,  or  to  levy  duties  on 


182  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

imports.  The  only  way  to  get  funds  was  to  ask  the  States  for 
them.  Moreover,  Congress  could  not  execute  its 
Their  defects.  ^^  directly  upon  the  citizens  of  the  States,  or 
compel  obedience  to  treaties  with  foreign  nations.  It  could 
recommend  and  advise,  but  it  could  not  execute;  it  was 
soon,  therefore,  in  a  condition  where  it  could  promise  but  could 
not  perform.  Without  power  over  persons,  it  had  no  efficiency 
as  a  government.1 

Each  State  was  now  jealous  in  the  extreme  of  any  authority 
beyond  its  own  borders.     This  narrow,  selfish,  short-sighted 
policy  was  due  in  part  to  the  demoralizing  influ- 

ences  of  the  war>  in  Part  to  the  fact  that  the  war 
had  been  carried  on  against  an  external  foe,  and 

now  in  the  eyes  of  many  Congress  had  taken  the  place  of 
King  George.  For  some  time  after  the  peace  local  prejudices 
grew  rankly.  As  a  consequence,  the  requisitions  and  recom 
mendations  of  Congress  had  little  influence.  The  demands  for 
money  met  with  niggardly  responses.  Each  State  seemed 
anxious  to  exalt  itself  at  the  expense  of  the  nation.  The  trouble 
of  the  time  is  well  put  forth  in  a  letter  of  Robert  Morris,  who 
was  now  (1781-1784)  acting  as  Superintendent  of  Finance,  the 
first  and  the  only  man  to  bear  that  title  in  our  history.  "  Imag 
ine",  he  said,  "  the  situation  of  a  man  who  is  to  direct  the  finances 
of  a  country  almost  without  revenue  (for  such  you  will  perceive 
this  to  be),  surrounded  by  creditors  whose  disasters,  while  they 
increase  their  clamors,  render  it  more  difficult  to  appease  them 
.  .  . ;  a  government  whose  sole  authority  consists  in  the  power 
of  framing  recommendations". 

Under  such  circumstances  great  difficulties  beset  the  im 
potent  Confederation.  Foreign  nations  looked  askance  at  the 

1  The  Articles  of  Confederation  asserted  that  each  State  retained  its 
sovereignty.  There  may  be  some  question  as  to  whether  they  had  the  sov 
ereignty  to  be  retained ;  but  that  is  a  difficult  problem  about  which  stu 
dents  of  history  may  well  disagree.  Certainly  whatever  be  the  theory  held  by 
the  States  concerning  their  own  sovereignty  and  equal  independence,  no 
one  of  them  felt  that  it  had  the  power  to  stand  actually  alone  and  be  really 
independent.  While  there  were  forces  driving  them  apart  and  threatening 
the  permanence  of  union,  there  was  also  a  deep  sense  of  interdependence. 


THE  CONFEDERATION  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION    183 

new  combination  of  republics,  and  foreign  princes  were  in  no 
hurry  to  be  gracious  to  the  dangerous  democracy  which  had  arisen 
from  rebellion  against  authority.  Congress  had 
trouble  in  raising  money  in  Europe  even  at  enor 
mous  rates  of  interest ;  for  who  would  trust  a  govern 
ment  without  visible  means  of  support?  Spain  refused  to  give 
up  much  of  the  Southwest  and  to  allow  the  Americans  free 
navigation  to  the  Gulf — an  important  fact  because  settlers  were 
now  moving  into  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  in  great  numbers. 
The  treaty  of  1783  was  no  sooner  ratified  than  broken,  both  by 
England  and  America;  for  the  States  refused  to  obey  the  provi 
sions  of  the  treaty  which  provided  that  British  creditors  should 
find  no  lawful  hindrance  in  the  collection  of  their  debts,  and 
England,  anxious  to  secure  the  fur  trade  and  the  Indian  alliance, 
retained  possession  of  the  forts  in  the  northern  and  western  part 
of  our  territory.  "We  are  one  to-day",  said  Washington,  "and 
thirteen  to-morrow".  No  foreign  government  could  respect  a 
nation  so  organized.  Washington,  indeed,  had  early  predicted 
"  the  worst  consequences  from  a  half-starved,  limping  govern 
ment,  always  moving  upon  crutches  and  tottering  at  every 
step". 

But  even  more  dangerous  conditions  appeared  within  the 

Union  than  without.     The  States  were  envious  of  one  another. 

Each  passed  laws  to  increase  its  own  commerce  at 

Difficulties         the  expense  of  its  neighbor's.  The  States  with  "no 

among  the  ^.  6. 

states.  convenient  ports  for  foreign  commerce  were  sub 

ject  to  be  taxed  by  their  neighbors  through  whose 
ports  their  commerce  was  carried  on.  New  Jersey,  placed  be 
tween  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  was  likened  to  a  cask  tapped 
both  ends;  and  North  Carolina,  between  Virginia  and  South 
Carolina,  to  a  patient  bleeding  at  both  arms".1  Difficulties 
arose  between  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  between  Connecticut 
and  Pennsylvania,  between  Connecticut  and  New  York,  and 
between  other  States  as  well.  "  In  sundry  instances  .  .  .  the 
navigation  laws  treated  the  citizens  of  other  States  as  aliens". 

1  From  Madison,  in  the  introduction  to  his  notes  on  the  Philadelphia 
Convention.    Elliot's  Debates,  vol.  v,  p.  109.    A  valuable  paper. 


184  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

There  was  actual  danger  of  civil  war  among  people  who  had  just 
emerged  from  an  eight  years'  struggle  against  a  foreign  foe. 
Within  the  respective  States  there  were  disorder  and  distress. 
The  paper-money  craze  wrought  havoc  in  some.  A  new  race  of 
speculators  arose  to  make  the  most  of  the  situa- 
^iou.  People  who  had  been  rich  found  themselves 
poor;  their  farms  were  mortgaged  or  their  trade 
was  stopped,  while  perchance  they  had  paper  money  by  the 
bagful  stored  away  in  the  attic.  Business  was  so  depressed  that 
there  were  want  and  suffering.  There  were,  to  use  Washington's 
words,  combustibles  in  every  state  which  a  spark  might  set 
fire  to.  In  Massachusetts,  in  fact,  the  fire  broke  out.  There,  as 
everywhere,  a  good  many  men  were  out  of  work  or  could  find  no 
money  to  pay  their  debts,  and,  as  is  customarily  the  case  in 
times  of  distress,  the  idle  and  the  vicious  saw  an  opportunity  to 
right  their  fancied  wrongs.  Several  hundred  men  came  together 
under  the  leadership  of  one  Daniel  Shays,  an  old  Continental 
captain,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  weak  and  inefficient  creature, 
unfit  to  command  or  hold  in  check  the  rabble  that  followed  his 
standard.  Conflicts  between  the  insurgents  and  the  State 
troops  ensued.  The  malcontents  were  especially  bitter  in  their 
hatred  of  courts  and  lawyers  and  they  prevented  the  various 
courts  from  holding  their  regular  sessions.  By  the  energetic 
action  of  the  State  government  the  uprising  was  finally  quelled, 
but  the  people  of  the  whole  land  feared  and  wondered.  They  be 
gan  to  long  for  a  national  government  with  power,  a  government 
that  could  restore  harmony  between  jealous  States  able  to  win  re 
spect  abroad,  establish  justice,  and  insure  domestic  tranquillity. 
In  considering  the  difficulties  of  the  situation  calmly  now  we 
see  how  difficult  it  was  to  do  the  work  of  building  up  strong 
substantial  institutions,  at  the  end  of  a  war  which  had  been  dis 
tracting  and  had  left  a  spirit  of  unrest  behind  it;  at  the  end  of  a 
war  which  had  been  waged  to  defend  the  liberty  of  the  individual 
Against  government.  The  political  talk  that  men  had  heard  for 
years  from  the  demagogue  and  the  statesman  alike  had  been  in 
praise  of  liberty,  and  now  the  shallow-pated  or  the  vicious 
thought  the  time  had  come  to  live  up  to  the  doctrine  and  to  get 


THE  CONFEDERATION  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION    183 


along  without  the  burdens  of  a  disagreeable,  strong-handed 
government.  They  did  not  see  that  a  good,  efficient  govern 
ment  might  protect  reasonable  liberty.  And  then,  too,  after 
the  war  was  over,  when  the  time  of  recuperation  was  at  hand, 
the  land  needed  the  Loyalists  that  had  been  banished  or  that 
had  gone  to  England  or  over  to  Canada  in  search  of  new  homes 
for  themselves.  For  we  must  remind  ourselves  again  that  the 
Revolution  was  in  many  ways  a  civil  war;  and  the  task,  there 
fore,  of  readjustment,  when  peace  came,  was  naturally  fraught 
with  the  difficulties  that  sprang  from  internal  confusion  and 
social  overturning. 

Before  studying  the 
steps  that  were  taken  to 
organize  a 
new  govern 
ment  and  es 
tablish  a  permanent  union, 
we  must  turn  aside  to  no 
tice  the  settlement  of  con 
flicting  claims  of  the  States 
to  Western  lands.  Even 
before  the  independence  of 
the  United  States  had  been 
acknowledged  by  Great 
Britain  there  had  arisen 
much  discussion  over  the 
ownership  of  the  territory 
west  of  the  mountains.  Six 


Western  land 
claims. 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY 

Showing  the  States  afterward  carved 
from  it 


of  the  States — New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Maryland — could  set  up  no 
claim  to  this  territory.  Their  boundaries  were  defined.  The 
other  States  claimed  lands  stretching  west  to  the  Mississippi 
River.  South  of  the  Ohio  there  w^as  no  good  ground  for  much 
dispute.  Each  State  might  take  possession  of  the  lands  lying 
directly  to  the  west;  but  to  the  lands  north  of  the  Ohio  there  were 
conflicting  claims.  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  bas£d  their 
titles  on  their  old  charters.  Each  claimed  a  strip  of  land  extend- 


186  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

ing  through  the  Northwest.  The  land  claimed  by  Massachu 
setts  formed  a  large  portion  of  what  is  now  Wisconsin  and  the 
lower  peninsula  of  Michigan.  The  Connecticut  strip  was 
chiefly  in  what  is  now  northern  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois. 
New  York  set  up  a  title  to  a  vast  territory  in  the  West  on  the 
ground  that  she  had  received  under  her  protection  the  Iroquois 
Indians  and  was  lord  of  their  domains.  As  scalping  parties  of 
these  fierce  warriors  had  wandered  as  far  as  the  Mississippi  and 
extorted  tribute  or  homage,  New  York  thus  asserted  ownership 
to  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Northwest.  The  claims  of  Virginia 
were  strong.  She  based  her  title,  first,  on  her  early  charter, 
which  described  her  dominion  as  running  .up  into  the  land 
"west  and  northwest";  second,  on  the  fact  that  George  Rogers 
Clark  had  won  this  territory,  and  that  it  was  the  pluck  and 
enterprise  of  Virginia  that  had  secured  it. 

Some  of  the  States,  hemmed  in  by  definite  boundaries,  had 
hesitated  to  agree  to  the  Articles  o£  Confederation  because 
they  feared  the  overweening  influence  of  the  others 
who  thus  laid  claim  to  a  great  dominion  in  the 
West.  Maryland  was  long  persistent  in  her  re 
fusal  to  sign  under  such  circumstances,  and  in  fact  did  not  do  so 
until  New  York  had  yielded,  and  there  was  good  reason  to 
believe  that  all  the  other  States  would  likewise  relinquish  their 
claims.  Within  a  few  years  after  the  establishment  of  the 
Articles  all  the  land  northwest  of  the  Ohio  was  ceded  to  the 
United  States.1  Connecticut  reserved  a  strip  of  land  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty  miles  long  south  of  Lake  Erie.  This  -was  later 
given  up  by  the  State,  but  is  still  often  called  the  "Western 
Reserve".  Part  of  the  territory  south  of  the  Ohio  was  ceded  to 
the  United  States.  At  a  later  day  Kentucky  was  organized  as  a 
State,  without  previous  cession  by  Virginia.2 

1  Connecticut  had  claimed  a  large  portion  of  the  northern  part  of  Penn 
sylvania.     This,  however,  was  decided  to  belong  to  Pennsylvania.     The 
little  triangular  piece  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania  was  later  ceded  to  that 
State  by  the  National  Government.     Massachusetts  also  laid  claim  to  a 
portion  of  what  is  now  New  York.    The  two  States  came  to  an  agreement 
about  itf  the  jurisdiction  passing  to  New  York. 

2  North  Carolina  ceded  Tennessee  in  1790. 


THE  CONFEDERATION'AND  THE  CONSTITUTION  187 

These  cessions  of  the  West  were  of  the  utmost  importance. 
Thus  it  happened  that  these  various  commonwealths  forming 
the  Confederation  had  a  common  interest  in  com- 
mon  ProPerty,  and  this  interest  formed  a  strong 
bond  of  union  when  such  ties  were  sorely  needed; 
and  thus  it  happened  that  almost  from  the  beginning  of  our 
national  history  we  have  had  a  wide  public  domain.  Moreover, 
it  was  understood  that  the  people  of  this  new  West  were  not  to 
be  held  in  subjection,  but  when  the  population  was  large  enough 
new  States  were  to  be  admitted  to  the  Confederation  on  an 
equality  with  the  old.1  Thus  arose  the  idea  of  our  wise  system 
with  regard  to  the  Territories. 

Soon  after  the  cession  of  the  Northwest  plans  for  its  govern 
ment  were  discussed.     In  1784  Jefferson  submitted  a  plan  for 
the  government  of  all  the  Western  country  from 
of 1784™          its   southern  boundary  to  the  Lakes.     He  pro 
posed  that  slavery  should  not  exist  there  after 
1800;  but  this  part  of  his  plan  was  not  carried,  though  a  ma 
jority  of  the  State  delegations  present  in  Congress  at  the  time 
the  vote  was   taken  were  in  favor   of  it.     The  rest  of  the 
plan  was  adopted,  but  it  was  not  put  into  operation.     In 
1787   was   enacted    the    famous  ordinance    for    the    govern 
ment  of  the  territory  northwest    of    the    Ohio.     This    pro 
vided    for     the    organization     of     government.      The     first 
officials  were  to  be  a  governor,  secretary,  and  three  judges 
appointed  by  Congress;  but,  as  the  population  increased,  the 
people  were  to  be  allowed  a  representation  in   the  Govern 
ment.    Not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  five 
States  might  be  formed  from  the  Territory  and 
admitted  to  "a  share  in  the  Federal  councils".     Sound  doc 
trines  of  civil  liberty  were  announced.     No  person  was  to  be 
molested  on  account  of  his  mode  of  worship  or  religious  senti- 

1  Congress  declared  that  these  lands  should  be  settled  and  "formed  into 
distinct  republican  States  which  shall  become  members  of  the  Federal 
Union".  "From  this  line  of  policy",  says  Johnston,  "Congress  has  never 
swerved,  and  it  has  been  more  successful  than  stamp  acts  or  Boston  port 
bills  in  building  up  an  empire".  (Lalor's  Cyclopaedia,  vol.  iii,  p.  916.) 


188  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

ments.  Each  citizen  was  entitled  to  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
and  trial  by  jury.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude, 
except  as  punishment  for  crime,  was  permitted;  and  the  Terri 
tory  and  the  States  which  might  be  formed  from  it  were  to 
remain  forever  "  a  part  of  this  Confederacy  of  the  United  States 
of  America".  It  announced  in  telling  phrase  that  "religion, 
morality,  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to  good  government 
and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means  of  educa 
tion  shall  forever  be  encouraged".  This  is  one  of  the  wisest 
documents  ever  issued  by  a  deliberative  assembly.  It  had 
great  weight  in  shaping  later  territorial  organization  and  in  keep 
ing  the  dark  tide  of  slavery  from  inundating  the  Northwest.  The 
trials  and  failures  of  the  dying  Congress  of  the  Confederation 
had  been  many,  but  the  honor  of  this  act  rests  with  it.  "I 
doubt",  said  Webster,  "whether  one  single  law  of  any  law 
giver,  ancient  or  modern,  has  produced  effects  of  more 
distinct,  marked,  and  lasting  character  than  the  ordinance  of 

1787". 

As  we  have  already  seen,  while  the  discussion  of  the  Western 
question  was  going  on,  the  affairs  of  the  nation  were  generally 

in  a  bad  condition.  It  was  apparent  that  America 
union.  had  not  performed  the  political  tasks  that  the 

very  success  of  the  Revolution  imposed ;  some  form 
of  national  organization  better  than  the  Confederation  was 
imperatively  demanded.  The  old  Congress  had  come  into  being 
at  a  time  of  urgent  need;  it  had  done  what  it  could,  and  by  its 
successes  and  failures  had  taught  valuable  lessons.  The  Articles 
of  Confederation  had  attempted  to  grant  to  Congress  some  of 
the  most  essential  powers  of  government,  but  the  arrangement 
had  been  made  early  in  the  history  of  the  war  and  the  Articles 
at  no  time  were  a  success  as  a  working  scheme.  As  the  days 
went  by,  when  once  the  war  was  over,  it  seemed  to  the  anxious 
men  of  real  intelligence  and  patriotism — men  like  Washington, 
Madison  and  Jay — as  if  the  whole  fabric  of  the  Union  would  go 
to  pieces,  and  the  country,  in  distraction  and  helplessness,  dis^ 
credit  free  government  and  its  own  principles  in  the  eyes  of 
mankind.  The  country,  to  use  Hamilton's  words,  presented 


THE  CONFEDERATION  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION      189 

an  "awful  spectacle";  there  was  a  " nation  without  a  national 
government".  > 

In  1786  the  condition  of  the  country  was  appalling.  -Spain 
was  holding  tight  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  refusing  the 
Western  settlers  access  to  the  Gulf  and  a  certain 
title  to  a  large  part  of  the  Southwest.  England 
was  in  possession  of  the  posts  on  our  northern  frontier,  with 
in  our  territory.  Tripoli,  a  piratical  power  in  northern 
Africa,  keeping  American  sailors  in  captivity,  demanded  a 
ransom  for  their  surrender  quite  beyond  the  slender  means 
of  Congress.  In  Massachusetts  a  dangerous  insurrection, 
threatening  the  very  foundations  of  the  Government,  was  in 
progress.  The  governments  of  seven  of  the  thirteen  States 
were  in  the  hands  of  a  party  which  believed  in  the  issue  of  paper 
money,  the  passing  of  "stay  laws"  to  prevent  the  collection  of 
debts,  and  other  schemes  which  were  bound  to  increase  the  pre 
vailing  confusion. 

The  outlook  was  discouraging  enough;  but  in  this  dark  year 
a  movement  was  begun  from  which  little  was  hoped  and  much 
came.  There  had  long  been  a  desire  on  the  part 
of  Maryland  and  Virginia  to  reach  an  agreement 
concerning  the  navigation  of  their  adjacent 
waters.  A  conference  was  held,  and  from  this  came  a  desire 
for  a  more  general  understanding  among  the  States.  Finally 
Virginia,  under  the  influence  of  James  Madison,  proposed  a 
meeting  of  delegates  from  all  the  States  at  Annapolis  in  Sep 
tember  (1786).  The  meeting  was  held,  but  only  five  States 
were  represented.  The  delegates  adopted  resolutions  drafted 
by  Hamilton,  asking  for  a  conference  to  be  held  at  Philadelphia, 
the  second  Monday  in  May,  1787,  "to  take  into  consideration 
the  situation  of  the  United  States,  to  devise  such  further  pro 
visions  as  should  appear  to  them  necessary  to  render  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  Federal  Government  adequate  to  the  exigencies 
of  the  Union".  - 

In  May  this  convention  met;  a  number  of  the  delegates 
came  late,  but  finally  all  of  the  States  were  represented  save 
Rhode  Island.  It  was  plain  that  the  serious  condition  of 


190  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

the  country  had  wrought  well  on  the  public  mind,  for  the  dele 
gates  were  the  able,  wise,  vigorous  men  of  the  land.  Some, 
it  is  true,  were  still  young  in  years,  but  even  these 
were  comPetent  leaders  among  their  fellows. 
Among  the  ablest  were  Washington  and  Frank 
lin — both  of  whom,  by  virtue  of  their  long  unselfish  public 
service,  had  wide  influence — James  Madison  of  Vi  ginia, 
James  Wilson  and  Gouverneur  Morris  of  Pennsylvania,  Roger 
Sherman  and  Oliver  Ellsworth  of  Connecticut,  Alexander 
Hamilton  of  New  York,  and  Rufus  King  of  Massachusetts. 
Washington  was  chosen  president  of  the  assembly.  The  con 
vention  lasted  four  months,  its  members  often  despairing  of 
success.  So  many  differences  arose  that  it  seemed  at  times 
impossible  to  reach  a  reasonable  conclusion.  The  great  influ 
ence  of  Washington  and  Franklin  contributed  to  harmony.  It 
was  determined  at  once  to  establish  a  government  with  supreme 
executive,  legislative,  and  judicial  departments.  The  adoption 
of  this  resolution  meant  that  the  convention  did  not  intend 
its  ose-  to  Patck  UP  tne  Articles  of  Confederation,  but  to 
found  a  real  national  government  with  power  to 
act — to  form  a  Constitution  whose  efficiency  should  not  depend 
on  the  whim  or  caprice  of  the  States. 

The  first  difficulty  arose  over  the  question  of  representation 
in  the  Legislature  of  the  new  Government.     Many  of  the  dele 
gates  from  the  small  States  in  this  convention 
S  seemed  merely  solicitous  for  the  dignity  of  their 

respective  States,  and  anxious  to  preserve  them 
from  attack  by  securing  to  them  the  same  weight  in  national 
councils  as  had  the  larger  States;  but  many  of  them  wished  even 
more  than  this,  and  demanded  that  the  principle  of  the  Confed 
eration  be  perpetuated  so  that  the  Central  Government  should 
continue  the  creature  of  the  States,  which  would  thus  form  the 
basis  of  the  new  order  as  they  had  of  the  old.  This  Small 
State  party  demanded  that  each  State  should  have  as  many 
representatives  as  every  other. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  so-called  Large  State  party,  led  by 
Madison,  Wilson,  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  King,  insisted  that 


THE  CONFEDERATION  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION      191 

the  basis  of  the  new  Government  was  not  to  be  the  States,  but 
the  people,  and  that  the  States  therefore  should  send  repre 
sentatives  to  the  Congress  of  the  new  Government 
m  ProPortion  to  their  population.  It  was  wrong 
and  illogical  to  give  Delaware  as  many  repre 
sentatives  as  Pennsylvania  or  Virginia.  Thus  we  see  that  a 
real  fundamental  question  of  principle  was  involved.  The 
extremists  of  the  Small  State  party  desired,  in  reality,  a  confed 
eration  of  equal  States;  the  Large  State  party  struggled  for  a 
government  based  upon  the  people.  Therefore  we  might  be 
justified  in  calling  one  party  the  State  party,  the  other  the 
National  party.1 

The  contest  between  these  two  factions  was  long  and  severe. 
At  times  it  seemed  as  if  there  could  be  no  agreement.     "  Gentle 
men",  exclaimed  Bedford,  of  Delaware,  "I  do  not 

trUSt  y°U'   •     '     '     S°°ner  than  be  rUmed>  ther6  arC 

foreign  powers  who  will  take  us  by  the  hand".  By 
a  vote  of  six  to  five  the  convention  decided  in  favor  of  propor 
tional  representation  in  the  more  numerous  branch  of  the 
legislature.  But  it  was  impossible  for  the  Large  State  party 
to  secure  that  basis  for  representation  in  the  other  branch. 
A  compromise  was  at  length  agreed  upon,  whereby  each  State 
was  to  have  two  senators,  while  the  House  was  to  have  the 
right  to  originate  all  bills  for  raising  revenue.  Thus  was 
formed  the  first  compromise  of  the  Constitution. 

The  student  should  see  clearly  the  real  controversy,  the 
real  difference  between  the  Large  State  men  and  the  Small 
State  men.  The  former  were  for  a  government  based  on  the 
people,  receiving  its  power  directly  from  the  people,  and  touching 
the  States  as  little  as  possible.  The  Small  State  men  were  in 
part  divided:  they  all  wanted  equal  representation  of  the  States; 

1  The  States  that  voted  for  proportional  representation  (the  Large  State 
party)  were  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia.  Of  these  the  first  three  were  really  large  states 
in  population.  Five  States  voted  against  proportional  representation: 
Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Defaware,  and  Maryland.  New 
Hampshire  came  too  late  to  take  part  in  the  first  critical  vote. 


192  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

but  some  of  them  were  not  opposed  to  a  national  government, 
while  others  desired  to  preserve  the  principle  of  the  Confedera 
tion — to  maintain  the  equal  sovereignty  of  the  States. 

But  after  this  first  and  important  agreement  on  the  subject 
of  representation  and  the  character  of  the  new  Government 
had  been  reached,  there  remained  many  other 
Difficulties  to  be  overcome.  These  arose  largely 
from  the  fact  that  the  industrial  interests  of  the 
Southern  States  were  essentially  different  from  the  Northern, 
the  former  being  built  upon  slave  labor,  the  latter  upon  free. 
It  stands  to  the  everlasting  credit  of  Madison,  Mason,  and 
others  from  Virginia  that  they  denounced  slavery  and  the  slave 
traffic;  but  the  delegates  from  the  States  of  the  far  South  were 
anxious  for  more  slaves  and  to  have  slavery  fully  protected. 
Another  question  arose:  Should  slaves  be  counted  in  determin 
ing  the  basis  of  representation  of  the  States,  or  should  they, 
since  they  were  held  as  property,  be  no  more  taken  into  account 
than  the  sheep  and  oxen  of  the  Northern  farmer?  Again,  the 
Southern  States  generally  were,  to  use  Mason's  words,  "staple 
States" — that  is,  they  raised  raw  material  and  exported  a  large 
part  of  it.  They  feared  that,  if  Congress  were  given  authority 
to  regulate  commerce,  the  power  would  be  used  to  tax  exports 
and  destroy  Southern  trade.  These  differences  were  finally 
settled  by  various  bargains  or  compromises. 

In  determining  the  basis  of  representation  .and  of  direct 

taxation,  it  was  decided  that  five  slaves  should  count  as  three 

freemen.1     Slaves  were  to  be  admitted  until  the 

Compromises. 

ist  of  January,  1808,  but  in  the  meantime  Con 
gress  should  have  power  to  levy  a  duty  of  ten  dollars  on  each 
person  so  imported.2  Congress  was  given  full  authority  to 
regulate  interstate  and  foreign  commerce,  but  was  prohibited 
from  levying  an  export  duty.3 


1  See  the  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  2. 

2  Ibid.,  art.  i,  sec.  9,  §  i. 

Ibid.,  art.  i,  sec.  9,  §  5.  The  importation  of  slaves  till  1808  was 
sufficient  to  fasten  the  slavery  system  permanently  on  the  South.  Doubt 
less  without  importation  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  root  out  the  system. 


THE  CONFEDERATION  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION  193 

The  Constitution  was  signed  by  delegates  from  all  the 
States  represented  in  the  convention  on  the  iyth  of  September, 

but  not  by  all  the  delegates.  Three  who  were 
agreed  upon.  present  refused  to  sign;  thirteen  had  left  during  the 

course  of  the  convention.  Only  thirty-nine, 
therefore,  out  of  the  fifty-five  members  gave  their  final  consent. 
When  such  evidences  of  differing  opinions  appeared  in  this 
assembly  of  wise  men,  what  hope  could  there  be  of  the  success  of 
the  Constitution  when  d;scussed  before  the  people?  It  was  laid 
before  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation,  and  was  then  sub 
mitted  by  this  Congre?  j  '"to  a  convention  of  delegates  chosen  in 
each  State  by  the  pec  pie  thereof". 


Eighth     Federal    PILLAR    reared. 


From  the  Independent  Chronicle  and  Universal  Advertiser,  Boston, 
Thursday,  June  12,  1788 

The  new  Constitution  wa?  essentially  different  from  the 
Articles.  The  new  Government  was  not  to  be  the  agent  of 
the  States  and  dependent  on  State  generosity 
^or  i"unds,  or  on  State  humor  for  obedience.  It 
was  to  spring  from  the  people  and  to  have  power 
over  the  people.  The  preamble  of  the  Constitution  states 
that  "we,  the  people,  ...  do  ordain  and  establish  this  Con 
stitution".  The  laws  of  the  Government  were  to  be 
direct  commands  to  persons.  It  could  raise  money  with 
its  own  machinery  and  compel  obedience  with  its  own  officers. 
Great  political  powers  were  given  to  the  new  Government, 
powers  general  in  their  nature,  such  as  the  right  to  make  peace 
or  war,  conduct  negotiations  with  foreign  governments,  raise 

As  to  the  effect  of  the  three-fifths  compromise,  see  Gay's  Madison,  pp. 
99,  100. 


194  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

armies  and  equip  navies,  establish  post  offices  and  post  roads, 
regulate  commerce  among  the  States  or  with  foreign  nations. 
All  power  was  not  bestowed  on  the  National  Government,  but 
only  certain  enumerated  powers;  the  rest  belonged  to  the  States 
or  to  the  people,  unless  the  Constitution  forbade  their  use  by 
any  governmental  authority.  There  were  thus  created  imme 
diately  over  every  citizen  two  governments,  occupying  each  a 
different  sphere  of  political  action,  and  each  having  power  to 
order  and  compel  obedience.  The  distinguishing  feature  of 
this  new  republic  was  this  distribution  of  political  authority 
between  the  Central  Government  on  the  one  hand  and  the  com 
monwealths  that  composed  the  Union  on  the  other. 

The  Ninth  PILLAR  erected  ! 

<*  The  Ratification  of  the  Conventions  of  nine  States,  fhall  be  fuffident  for  the  eftaLJifh. 

ment  of  this  Conftitution,  between  the  States  fo  ratifying  the  fame."  Art.  vii. 

INCIPIENT  MAGNl  PROCEDERE  MENSES. 

Thf  Attraction  tnuft 
be  irwfiftiWe 


From  the  Independent  Chronicle  and  Universal  Advertiser,  Boston, 
Thursday,  June  26,  1788 

Moreover,  the  form  of  the  new  Government  was  different 

from  that  of  the  old.    Power  was  divided  between  separate 

departments — legislative,  executive  and  judicial — • 

its  form.  .       .     , 

and  each  department  was  to  be  in  large  measure 
independent  of  the  other.  A  single  person,  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  was  given  executive  authority.  The  ex 
periences  of  the  confederation  had  taught  that  one  man 
can  execute  the  laws  more  vigorously  and  sensibly  than 
many.  The  legislative  power  was  intrusted  to  two  bodies 
of  nearly  equal  power,  that  one  might  act  as  a  check  and  a  bal 
ance  to  the  other.  An  independent  judiciary  was  provided  for, 
the  judges  to  be  appointed  by  the  Executive  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate,  to  hold  office  during  good  behavior. 


THE  CONFEDERATION  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION    195 


Ratified  by 
the  States. 


Thus  the  separation  of  the  powers  of  government,  which  was 
thought  to  be  essential  for  the  preservation  of  liberty,  formed 
an  important  part  of  the  new  plan.1 

Conventions  were  summoned  in  all  the  States,  save  obstinate 
little  Rhode  Island,  to  pass  upon  the  new  Constitution.  The  peo 
ple  of  eleven  States  ratified  it  before  the  end  of  1788. 
This  decision,  however,  was  reached  only  after  pro 
longed  discussion  and  debate.  In  some  of  the  States 
the  outcome  was  doubtful  almost  to  the  end.  Virginia,  Massa 
chusetts,  and  New  York  were  the  most  doubtful  States.  Here  the 
Constitution  had  formida 
ble  opponents  and  no  less 
able  defenders.  The  rati 
fication  in  the  New  York 
convention  was  due,  large 
ly,  to  the  eloquence  and 
able  statesmanship  of 
Hamilton.  During  the  dis 
cussion,  Hamilton,  Madi 
son,  and  John  Jay  wrote  a 
series  of  articles  for  the 
press,  on  the  character  of 


the  Constitution, 
papers,    gathered 


These 
into  a 
volume  called  the  Fed 
eralist,  constitute  a  great 
work  on  the  science  of 
government,  one  of  the 
most  famous  books  ever 
written  in  America. 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  POPULATION  IN  1790 


1  Students  of  history  and  of  politics  believed  that  the  powers  of  govern 
ment  should  be  classified  according  to  their  nature,  and  that  the  same  body 
should  not  be  possessed  of  two  essentially  different  kinds  of  power.  "If  it 
be",  said  Madison,  "a  fundamental  principle  of  free  government  that  the 
legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary  powers  should  be  separately  exercised, 
it  is  equally  so  that  they  be  independently  exercised".  (Madison's  Journal 
of  the  Convention,  July  igth.) 


196  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Some  of  the  State  conventions  would  have  rejected  the 
Constitution  had  its  supporters  not  agreed  that  after  the  organ 
ization  of  the  new  Government  amendments  should  be  added 
in  the  nature  of  a  bill  of  rights  to  guard  against  tyrannical 
action  on  the  part  of  the  central  authority.  The  first  ten 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  were  afterward  agreed  to  in 
accordance  with  this  understanding.1  North  Carolina  did  not 
become  a  member  of  the  new  Union  till  November,  1789. 
Rhode  Island  gave  up  her  pretensions  to  independence  in  1790. 
The  Constitution  thus  established  was  in  one  sense  not  a 
new  creation.  It  was  more  than  the  outcome  of  a  conference  of 
wise  men.  It  was  the  result  of  experience,  and  was 
m  itself  a  growth.  Its  main  characteristics  were 
the  products  of  time.  The  very  failures  of  the 
Confederation  had  shown  the  proper  basis.  In  the  de 
tails  of  the  machinery  of  government  there  was  little  that  was 
absolutely  new.  The  framers  drew  from  the  history  of  other 
nations,  from  their  knowledge  of  the  English  law  and  institu 
tions,  but  most  of  all  from  their  political  experience.  A  large 
part  of  the  new  instrument  was  taken,  with  slight  change,  from 
one  or  another  of  the  State  constitutions,  which,  we  must  re 
member,  were  in  part  built  on  colonial  charters  or  based  on 
colonial  practices.  This  fact,  however,  does  not  detract  from 
the  wisdom  of  the  framers  of  the  federal  Constitution.  They 
were  at  once  scholars  and  men  of  affairs,  students  of  history  and 
of  practical  politics.  The  goodness  of  their  handiwork  resulted 
from  their  wise  appreciation  of  the  teachings  of  the  past  and  the 
clever  joining  together  of  the  best  and  safest  material  that  the 
tide  of  history  brought  to  their  feet.2 

lThe  first  ten  amendments  were  declared  in  force  December  15,  1791. 
They  are  restrictions  on  the  power  of  the  National  Government,  and  do  no> 
bind  the  States. 

2  "The  American  Constitution  is  no  exception  to  the  rule  that  ever}'- 
thing  which  has  power  to  win  the  obedience  and  respect  of  men  must  have 
its  roots  deep  in  the  past;  and  that  the  more  slowly  every  institution  has 
grown,  so  much  the  more  enduring  is  it  likely  to  prove.  There  is  little  in 
the  Constitution  that  is  absolutely  new.  There  is  much  that  is  as  old  as 
Magna  Charta".  (Bryce,  The  American  Commonwealth,  vol.  i,  p.  29.) 


THE  CONFEDERATION  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION      197 

REFERENCES 

HART,  The  Formation  of  the  Union,  pp.  102-135;  WALKER,  The 
Making  of  the  Nation,  pp.  1-73;  MORSE,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Chap 
ters  III  and  IV;  LODGE,  George  Washington,  Volume  II,  Chapter 
I;  PELLEW,  John  Jay,  Chapter  IX;  TYLER,  Patrick  Henry,  Chapters 
XVII-XIX;  SCHOULER,  History,  Volume  I,  pp.  1-74;  FISKE,  Critical 
Period;  McMASTER,  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,  Vol 
ume  I,  Chapters  I-V;  CHANNING,  History  of  the  United  States,  Volume 
III,  Chapters  XIII-XVIII;  MCLAUGHLIN,  The  Confederation  and 
The  Constitution;  MCLAUGHLIN  AND  HART,  Cyclopedia  of  American 
Government,  Articles  "Convention",  "BiHs  of  Rights",  etc. 


CHAPTER  XI 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT— THE  FEDERAL* 
1ST  PARTY  IN  CONTROL— 1789-1801 

The  Congress  of  the  Confederation  made  the  necessary 
arrangements  for  ushering  in  the  new  Government  and  then 
expired.1  The  election  of  President  was  ap- 
P°inted  for  the  first  Wednesday  in  January,  1789, 
Government.  the  meeting  of  the  electors  for  the  first  Wednesday 
in  February,  and  the  inauguration  of  the  Govern 
ment  and  the  real  beginning  of  the  new  order  for  the  first  Wednes 
day  in  March.  It  happened  that  the  first  Wednesday  in  March 
/ell  on  the  4th  of  that  month,  and  thus  it  came  about  that  March 
4th  is  the  day  when  a  new  President  and  a  new  Congress  assume 
the  duties  of  office.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  Congress  did 
not  assemble  at  the  appointed  time.  Its  members  leisurely  came 
together  in  New  York,  where  the  Government  was  to  be  organ 
ized,  and  there  was  not  a  quorum  of  the  House  of  Representa 
tives  till  the  first  of  April,  or  of  the  Senate  till  some  days  later. 
When  the  votes  for  President  were  counted  in  the  presence 
of  the  two  houses,  it  was  found  that  Washington  had  been 
unanimously  elected  President,  and  that  John 
Adams,  having  received  the  next  greatest  number 
inaugurated.  of  ballots,  was  elected  Vice-President.2  Washing 
ton's  journey  from  Virginia  to  New  York  was  a  long 
triumphal  progress.  The  people  gathered  everywhere  to  pay  a 

1  The  confederate  Congress  continued  in  formal  existence  till  March  2, 
1789.    "It  then  flickered  and  went  out  without  any  public  notice".    One 
of  the  men  at  the  time  said  it  was  hard  to  say  whether  the  old  government 
was  dead  or  the  new  one  alive. 

2  By  the  Constitution  as  it  then  was,  each  elector  cast  two  votes  without 
designating  which  was  for  President  and  which  for  Vice-President.     Con 
stitution,  art.  ii,  sec.  i,  §3. 

198 


FEDERALIST  PARTY  IN  CONTROL— 1789-1801     199 


reverent  respect  to  the  man  whose  greatness  was  deeply  felt  and 
honored.  Not  till  the  3oth  of  April  did  he  take  the  oath  of  office. 
The  place  was  the  Senate  balcony  of  Federal  Hall.  The  scene  was 
an  impressive  one.  One  of  the  greatest  of  the  world's  great  men 
consecrated  himself  anew  to  the 
service  of  his  country,  and  en 
tered  upon  the  duty  of  giving 
life  and  vigor  to  the  new  Gov 
ernment  of  the  young  nation. 
After  the  oath  had  been  taken 
Washington  read  to  Congress, 
assembled  in  the  Senate  cham 
ber,  his  inaugural  address.  "It 
was  very  touching",  we  are  told 
by  a  spectator,  "and  quite  of 
the  solemn  kind.  His  aspect 
grave  almost  to  sadness;  his 
modesty,  actually  shaking;  his 
voice  deep,  a  little  tremulous, 
and  so  low  as  to  call  for  close 
attention;  added  to  the  series 
of  objects  presented  to  the  mind  and  overwhelming  it,  pro 
duced  emotions  of  the  most  affecting  kind  upon  the  members". 
Even  before  the  inauguration  the  House  had  entered  ear 
nestly  upon  the  work  of  legislation.  The  great  need  of  the  new 
Government  was  money,  and  so  the  House  began 
Congress  ^  once  ^  consideratiOn  of  a  tariff  bill.  OneVas 

begins 

legislation.  passed  early  in  the  summer  and  a  national  income 
was  thus  secured.  It  proved  in  a  short  time  to  be 
inadequate,  and  the  duties  were  increased.  This  and  other 
means  of  obtaining  money  soon  gave  the  Government  dignity 
and  won  it  respect. 

But  much  besides  the  raising  of  funds  was  necessary  to  put 
the  new  Government  into  running  order.  The  Constitution, 
general  in  its  provisions,  did  not  outline  in  detail  the  forms 
and  methods  that  must  be  followed  in  giving  it  effect.  Many 
new  offices  must  be  established  and  their  duties  declared.  The 


I 
200  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

experiences  of  the  war  and  the  Confederation  had  shown  the 
value  of  single  administrative  officers  and  the  Constitution 
provided  that  the  President  could  "require  the 
opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal  officer  in  each 
of  the  executive  departments,  upon  any  sub 
ject  relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices". 1  Con 
gress  now  passed  bills  to  form  three  such  departments — State 
(at  first  called  Foreign  Affairs),  Treasury,  and  War.  The  Post 
Office  was  continued  on  its  old  footing,  and  the  office  of  Attorney- 
General  was  established.  This  officer  soon  became  an  important 
person  in  the  administration  because  of  his  duty  to  give  the 
President  legal  advice,  but  he  was  not  at  first  at  the  head  of 
what  was  strictly  an  executive  department. 

To  the  offices  thus  established  Washington  appointed  able 
men.     Thomas  Jefferson,  then  absent  in  France,  was  upon  his 
return   made   Secretary  of   State,   assuming   the 

duties  of  the  office  in  J790.  The  Treasury  port- 
folio  was  given  to  Alexander  Hamilton,  then  a 
young  man  hardly  more  than  thirty-two  years  of  age,  possessed 
of  wonderful  executive  ability,  with  a  strong  grasp  of  details 
and  a  firm  comprehension  of  principles.  He  had  long  been 
interested  in  the  disordered  finances  of  the  Confederation,  and 
Washington  thought  him  the  man  to  bring  order  out  of  the 
confusion  that  everywhere  prevailed.  For  this  task  he  was 
specially  qualified.  All  matters  seemed  to  take  form  and 
arrange  themselves  in  passing  through  his  mind.  His  task  was 
a  difficult  one.  "Finance"!  said  Gouverneur  Morris  to  Jay  at 
one  time;  "Ah,  my  friend,  all  that  remains  of  the  American 
Revolution  grounds  there".  The  fate  of  the  Constitution 
seemed  to  depend  upon  the  success  with  which  order  was  brought 
out  of  the  disorder  that  had  been  inherited  from  the  war  and  the 
critical  period.  Henry  Knox,  an  excellent  officer  and  an  able 
man,  head  of  the  War  Department  under  the  Confederation, 
was  made  Secretary  of  War.  Edmund  Randolph  was  appointed 
Attorney-General. 

1  Constitution,  art.  ii,  sec.  2,  §  i. 


FEDERALIST  PARTY  IN  CONTROL— 1789-1801     201 

We  must  remember  that  the  Constitution  does  not  provide 
for  a  Cabinet,  but  simply  speaks  of  executive  departments. 

In  fact,  even  the  English  Cabinet  was  not  so 
The  American  dearly  defined  then  as  now;  its  functions  were 
growth.  not  so  evident  and  well  understood.  So  that  we 

ought  not  to  expect  that,  inasmuch  as  the  Amer 
icans  had  had  no  experience  with  a  Cabinet,  the  heads  of  the 
executive  departments  would  be  formed  at  once  into  a  single 


VIEW  or  THE  OLD  CITY  HALL,  WALL  STREET,  IN  THE  YEAR  1789 

body,  bent  on  carrying  out  a  well-recognized  policy.  At  the 
present  time  the  members  of  the  President's  Cabinet  meet  to 
gether  at  intervals;  in  these  meetings  great  questions  of  state 
are  discussed,  and  it  is  thought  desirable  that  there  should  be, 
in  a  very  general  way,  harmony  and  cooperation,  at  times 
even  a  definite  Cabinet  policy.  This  state  of  things  Is,  how 
ever,  the  result  of  growth.  No  such  condition  existed  in  1789 — 
indeed  was  hardly  possible — for  as  yet  there  were  no  political 
parties  with  a  distinct  program  of  action.  Washington  some 
times  called  the  heads  of  departments  together  for  consul 
tation,  sometimes  asked  for  their  individual  opinions  in  writing, 
or  ^or  the  advice  of  one  alone,  but  gradually  during  his  presi- 


202  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

dency  the  practice  grew  of  having  matters  discussed  by  the 
Secretaries  of  State,  War,  and  Treasury  and  the  Attorney- 
General. 

As  it  turned  out,  the  chief  places  in  Washington's  adminis 
tration  were  held  by  men  who  by  training  and  temperament  were 
quite  diverse.  Two  opposite  tendencies  in  political 
in  the  ^ e  WGTG  represented  in  it.  On  many  questions  pre- 
Cabinet.  sented  for  discussion  Hamilton  and  Jefferson  took 

different  positions.  With  the  former  Knox  was 
likely  to  agree,  while  Randolph  as  a  rule  agreed  with  his  fellow 
Virginian,  the  Secretary  of  State.1  Jefferson  was  a  man  of 
great  ability,  and  was  a  statesman  of  wide  powers.  He  was 
strongly  democratic  in  his  sympathies,  believing  that  the  people 
at  large  were  the  purest  and  safest  source  of  political  power  and 
opinion.  He  was  given  to  sentiment,  if  not  to  sentimentality, 
and  he  was  not  always  strong  as  an  administrator.  During  his 
political  career  in  Virginia  he  had  attacked  the  aristocratic 
institutions  of  the  colony  and  State,  and  he  now  had  no  sympa 
thy  with  governments  or  organizations  whose  tendency  was  to 
check  free  growth  and  free  thinking.  He  played  no  such  part 
as  Hamilton  and  Washington  in  bringing  about  order  and  system 
and  establishing  the  new  Government.  His  greatness  lay  in  the 
fact  that  he  appreciated  the  sentiment  or  spirit  of  popular 
government,  a  spirit  that  was  destined  to  be  the  ruling  force  in 
the  great  republic  which  was  then  organizing  itself  for  effective 
work.  In  this  sympathy  he  was  opposed  to  many  men  of  that 
time  who  believed  with  John  Adams  that  "  the  rich,  well-born, 
and  the  able"  were  qualified  to  rule.  While  Hamilton  was  not 
entirely  out  of  sympathy  with  popular  government,  he  repre 
sented  the  conservative  elements  of  the  nation.  His  power  was 
in  administration,  in  bringing  order  out  of  disorder.  He  had  no 
fear  of  an  energetic  and  efficient  government,  and  felt  keenly 
the  necessity  of  such  government  after  experience  with  the  dis 
cord  and  turbulence  of  the  critical  period. 

1  Jefferson  once  complained  that  two  and  one  half  men  opposed  one  and 
one  half — i.  e.  Hamilton,  Knox  and  a  half  of  Randolph  were  one  side,  and 
Jefferson  and  the  other  half  of  Rando'ph  on  the  other. 


FEDERALIST  PARTY  IN  CONTROL—  1789-1801     203 

At  the  first  session  of  the  First  Congress   Federal   courts 
were  established.     Besides  the  Supreme   Court,   Circuit  and 
District    Courts   were   provided   for.     All    cases 
that  unc^er  tne  Constitution  might  come  under 


Federal  jurisdiction  were  not  confided  to  these 
courts  alone,  but  the  State  courts  were  allowed  concurrent 
jurisdiction  in  many  cases.  To  avoid  obscurity  and  confusion 
by  differing  interpretations  of  national  laws,  and  to  avoid  the 
possibility  that  the  effect  and  nature  of  Federal  statutes  should 
be  permanently  decided  by  the  State  courts  in  such  a  way  as  to 
detract  from  the  power  and  efficiency  of  the  National  Govern 
ment,  provision  was  made  for  an  appeal  from  the  Supreme 
Court  of  a  State  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in 
certain  kinds  of  cases  —  cases  in  which  the  State  judges  were 
said,  by  the  person  carrying  the  case  to  the  Federal  Court,  not 
to  have  recognized  and  given  full  effect  to  the  constitution  or 
laws  of  the  United  States.1  By  this  method  the  supremacy  of 
national  law  was  to  be  secured.2  The  Federal  courts  are  to-day 
arranged  on  the  same  general  plan  as  that  outlined  in  this 
famous  statute,  which  was  largely  the  work  of  Oliver  Ellsworth, 
of  Connecticut.  The  first  chief  justice  appointed  was  John 
Jay,  a  man  of  rare  purity  and  sweetness  of  character,  with  good 
legal  knowledge  and  a  wide  experience  in  affairs  of  State. 
The  peculiar  duties  of  our  first  justices  demanded  the  wisdom 
of  the  statesman  even  more  than  the  learning  of  the  lawyer. 

Hamilton  set  about  the  task  of  bringing  order  into  the 

deranged  finances  of  the  country.     Upon  request,  he  prepared 

a  report  and  submitted   it   to    Congress    at   its 

second  session.     He  showed  that  the  debt  of  the 

United  States  was  about  fifty-four  million  dollars,  including 

arrears  of  interest  —  a  vast  sum  for  that  day.    He  proposed  to 


1The  Constitution  provides  for  one  Supreme  Court  and  other  courts 
that  Congress  may  establish  (see  Constitution,  art.  iii).  Congress,  however, 
needed  to  provide  for  the  Supreme  Court  also  by  providing  how  many 
judges  there  should  be,  what  their  salaries  should  be,  and  how  matters1 
should  be  brought  up  to  the  court  from  lower  courts. 

2  See  the  Constitution,  art.  vi.,  §  2. 


204 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


issue  new  certificates  of  indebtedness,  and  to  receive  in  payment 
the  old  evidences  of  indebtedness.     The  new  certificates  were  to 

be  issued  on  more  favorable  terms 
to  the  Government  than  the 
old.  It  was  resolved  by  Congress 
to  pay  in  full  the  debt  which 
we  owed  abroad;  but  many  ob 
jected,  to  paying  the  home  debt 
in  full,  because  the  paper  had  been 
so  depreciated  that  a  payment  at 
face  value  would  simply  pour 
loads  of  dollars  into  the  hands  of 
speculators  who  had  bought  up 
the  old  paper.  Hamilton,  how 
ever,  argued  for  straight  down 
right  honesty,  without  distinction 
of  persons.  He  believed  that  the 
Government  promises  to  pay 
should  be  redeemed  in  full.  A 
bill  was  finally  passed  by  Con 
gress  providing  for  the  payment 
of  the  domestic  as  well  as  the  foreign  debt  in  substantial 
accord  with  Hamilton's  suggestions. 

Hamilton  proposed  at  the  same  time  that  the  State  debts 
should  be  assumed  and  paid  by  the  National  Government,  on 
the  ground  that  they  were  actually  incurred  in 
behalf  of  the  common  weal.  This  proposal  met 
with  vigorous  objection,  and  a  bill  for  the  purpose 
was  defeated  at  this  session.  About  the  same  time,  how 
ever,  there  was  great  discussion  over  the  location  of  the 
permanent  capital.  This  seems  a  trivial  matter,  but  men 
became  very  much  excited  about  it  as  if  the  fate  of  the 
nation  were  at  stake  in  the  decision.  Finally  a  bargain 
was  struck.  Hamilton  secured  Northern  votes  for  a  South 
ern  capital,  and  Jefferson  was  instrumental  in  securing 
Southern  votes  for  assumption  of  the  State  debts,  a  measure 
more  favored  by  the  Northern  and  Eastern  than  the 


FEDERALIST  PARTY  IN  CONTROL— 1789-1801      205 

Southern  States.  The  site  on  the  Potomac  was  soon  afterward 
selected. 

Among  other  plans  of  Hamilton  were  the  laying  of  an  excise 
and  the  establishment  of  a  national  bank.  At  the  final  session 
of  the  First  Congress  (winter  of  1790-91)  such 
measures  were  proposed.  There  was  bitter  oppo 
sition  to  the  excise,  for  it  seemed  to  many  that  the  secretary,  in 
order  to  magnify  his  office  and  to  exalt  national  power  unduly, 
was  striving  to  obtain  all  sources  of  taxation  for  the  Federal 
Government.  The  bill  was  finally  passed  after  a  sharp  debate. 
It  provided  for  a  tax  on  liquors,  and  it  was  humorously  sug 
gested  that  it  would  be  like  "drinking  down  the  national 
debt". 

Hamilton  advocated  a  bank,  on  the  ground  that  it  would 

be  of  assistance  to  the  Government  in  borrowing  money  and 

carrying   on   its   financial   business,  and  that  it 

The  bank.  f  j    u     .'. '  j  •       e         '  i,'  i    *.- 

would  be  01  service  in  lurnishmg  a  circulating 
medium.  The  plan  caused  great  discussion  in  the  House. 
Hamilton's  financial  measures  had  already  won  him  a  devoted 
following,  but  a  strenuous  and  vigorous  opposition  was  now 
forming.  Madison  was  its  leader.  He  had  favored  the  excise, 
but  he  now  argued  strongly  against  the  bank  bill.  The  main 
argument  of  its  opponents  was  that  it  was  unconstitutional, 
that  the  Federal  Government  had  not  been  given  the  authority 
to  establish  a  corporation.  A  bill  in  practical  agreement  with 
Hamilton's  proposals  was  at  length  carried  through  both 
houses.  It  provided  for  a  bank  with  a  capital  of  ten  million 
dollars.  The  Government  was  to  be  a  stockholder,  and  sub 
scriptions  to  a  large  portion  of  the  stock  were  to  be  made  in 
United  States  bonds.  The  effect  of  this  would  be  to  make  a 
demand  for  the  bonds,  and  thus  help  the  credit  of  the  Govern 
ment.  All  interested  in  the  bank  would  be  sure  to  be  interested 
in  the  stability  of  the  Government. 

Before  signing  the  bill  Washington  asked  from  the  members 
of  his  Cabinet  their  written  opinions.  The  replies  of  Hamilton 
and  Jefferson  are  great  State  papers.  They  clearly  mark  out 
doctrines  of  two  distinct  schools  of  political  thought  and  two 


206  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

distinct  methods  of  interpreting  the  Constitution.  Jefferson, 
anxious  to  keep  the  central  authority  within  narrow  limits, 
agreed  that  the  Government  did  not  have  the  right 
to  establish  a  bank,  because  no  such  power  had 
been  expressly  granted  in  the  Constitution,  and 
because  it  was  not  necessary  for  carrying  out  any  of  the  pow 
ers  that  were  granted.  He  thus  advocated  what  is  known  as 
''strict  construction"  of  the  Constitution.  Hamilton,  on  the 
other  hand,  argued  that  the  Government  had  the  right  to 
choose  all  means  that  seemed  suitable  and  proper  for  carrying 
out  effectually  the  powers  intrusted  to  it  by  the  Constitution.1 
He  thus  laid  down  the  doctrine  of  "implied  powers",  and  advo 
cated  a  "broad"  construction  of  the  Constitution.  Here,  then, 
were  stated  by  these  two  secretaries  fundamental  ideas  that 
were  to  form  the  basic  principles  of  contending  parties. 

Before  the  end  of  Washington's  first  term  political  parties 
were  organized.  They  were  largely  formed  in  consequence  of 
sympathy  with  or  antagonism  to  Hamilton's 
plans,  which  plainly  enough  tended  not  simply 
to  establish  sound  financial  conditions,  but  to  give  power  and 
efficiency  to  the  central  authority.  It  was  believed  by  many 
that  the  wily  secretary  was  making  use  of  his  position  by  various 
vicious  methods  to  bring  and  hold  together  a  monarchical  party, 
and  that  republican  institutions  were  endangered 
by"  the  schemes  and  machinations  of  what  Jefferson 
called  the  "corrupt  squadron".  These  persons, 
so  opposed  to  Hamilton's  measures  and  suspicious  of  his  devices, 
were  now  crystallizing  into  a  party.  Its'  leaders  were  Jefferson 
and  Madison.  It  soon  called  itself  the  Republican  party,  but 
was  often  stigmatized  by  its  opponents  as  democratic,  a  word 
not  then  hi  good  odor  because  of  the  excesses  of  the  French 

1  See  the  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  8,  §  *8.  The  right  of  Congress  to  choose 
means  for  carrying  out  its  power  does  not  rest  simply  on  this  clause  of  the 
Constitution,  but  is  a  reasonable  inference  from  the  whole.  Congress  has 
only  the  powers  granted  by  the  Constitution;  but  according  to  the  broad 
construction  Congress  can  do  anything  that  seems  wise  and  appropriate 
to  make  the  granted  power  effective. 


FEDERALIST  PARTY.  IN  CONTROL— 1789  -1801     20? 

Revolution  committed  in  the  name  of  liberty  and  fraternity. 
It  believed  that  the  rights  of  the  States  should  be  defended 
against  encroachments  on  the  part  of  the  National  Government. 
Distrust  of  government  and  faith  in  the  people  were  its  dearest 
principles.  Although  Jefferson's  suspicions  of  Hamilton's 
monarchic  designs  were  quite  unfounded  and  much  of  this 
early  opposition  to  Federal  measures  was  unwise,  it  was  well 
that  a  party  was  formed  with  democracy  for  its  substantial 
faith,  a  party  whose  aim  was — to  use  Jefferson's  quaint  words — 
"the  cherishment  of  the  people".  The  defenders  of  the  Hamil- 
The  Federalists  ton^an  P°licv  still  called  themselves  Federalists, 
'  the  word  assumed  by  the  supporters  of  the  Con 
stitution  when  it  was  before  the  people  for  ratification.  Their 
opponents  were  often  called  Anti-Federalists,  although,  as 
suggested  above,  when  parties  were  really  formed  (1792-93)  the 
Jeffersonian  party  was  more  properly  designated  as  Republican 
or  Democratic.  The  Federalists  were  broad  constructionists, 
believers  in  a  strong  central  government.  They  came  in  good 
part  from  the  commercial  States.  The  Republicans  were 
strict  constructionists,  and  on  the  whole  were  from  the  agricul 
tural  States.  Industrial  conditions  of  the  different  sections 
of  the  country  did  much  to  determine  party  beliefs  and  ten 
dencies.  Commerce  is  essentially  general,  not  local,  and  thus  its 
followers  favored  a  strong  general  government — a  government 
that  could  insure  free  commercial  intercourse  and  protect  trade. 
By  the  end  of  Washington's  first  term  it  was  plain  enough 
that  the  new  Government  had  elements  of  success  and  per 
manence.  There  was  evidence  of  prosperity 
prosperity  everywhere,  of  renewed  hope,  and  of  business 
and  union.  energy.  National  parties  had  sprung  into  exist 
ence,  and,  though  one  of  them  was  opposed  on 
principle  to  the  development  of  the  power  of  the  Federal 
Government,  the  co-operation  among  advocates  of  party 
doctrine  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other  was  a  bond 
of  real  union,  bringing  the  people  into  a  closer  and  more 
sympathetic  relation  than  had  existed  before  in  the  era  of  the 
Confederation,  when  sympathies  were  often  cut  short  by  State 


208  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

boundaries.  The  new  nation  had  evidently  won  attention  if 
not  respect  abroad,  but  its  international  trials  are  best  con 
sidered  as  a  whole  in  connection  with  Washington's  second  term. 
Washington  desired  to  retire  at  the  end  of  his  first  term, 
but  was  persuaded  to  accept  another  election.  The  discord  in 

his  Cabinet,  which  had  by  this  time  become  ser- 

*OUS'  troubled  him  yery  much.  Hamilton  and 
enmities.  Jefferson,  to  use  the  latter's  own  expression, 

"were  pitted  against  each  other  like  two  fighting 
cocks".  Jefferson  thought  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  a  cor 
rupt  and  scheming  enemy  of  republicanism,  an  intriguing 
monarchist.  Hamilton  thought  that  the  Secretary  of  State  was 
a  demagogue,  who  cloaked  a  rankling  ambition  under  profes 
sions  of  fear  for  popular  well-being.  Washington's  efforts  to 
restore  peace  were  fruitless.  He  had  not  known  hitherto  the 
depth  and  rancor  of  party  feeling.  Colonial  history  had  given 
no  indication  of  such  party  organizations,  and  hence  he  and 
others  were  astonished  at  what  seemed  to  be  .unaccountable 
ill  feeling.  But,  as  we  have  seen,  the  differences,  though  need 
lessly  bitter  and  personal,  were  natural  ones,1  and  these  two  men 
were  but  representatives  of  different  thoughts  and  feelings 
in  the  country  at  large.  Despite  all  these  party  clashings 
and  personal  enmities  Washington  was  again  unanimously 
elected.  The  opposition  was  directed  against  Adams,  who 
was,  however,  chosen  Vice-President  by  a  good  majority. 

Without  attempting  to  follow  out  in  chronological  order  the 
event  j  of  Washington's  second  administration,  let  us  see  what 

the  chief  troubles  and  achievements  were.  One 
ReLmc^5  °^  tne  difficulties  to  be  overcome  was  the  resistance 

to  the  excise  law.  This  resistance  was  especially 
str  jng  in  western  Pennsylvania.  The  opposition  was  formi 
dable.  Mobs  intimidated  the  tax  collectors,  and  even  used  tar 

1  It  was  inevitable  that  men  should  differ  regarding  the  power  and  scope 
of  the  new  Government;  inevitable,  too,  that  they  should  differ  regarding 
the  trust  and  confidence  to  be  bestowed  on  the  whole  people;  inevitable 
that,  under  the  circumstances,  some  men  should  dread  the  establishment 
of  monarchy  and  see  visions  of  tyranny  where  danger  did  not  exist. 


FEDERALIST  PARTY  IN  CONTROL— 1789-1801     209 

and  feathers  to  emphasize  their  disapproval;  public  meetings 
denounced  the  atrocious  interference  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  in  the  "natural  rights  of  man".1  In  1794  opposition 
became  rebellion  and  it  was  high  time  for  the  authorities  to  take 
decisive  action.  Fifteen  thousand  militia  were  called  out,  and, 
accompanied  by  Hamilton  himself,  they  marched  to  the  scene 
of  disorder.  Resistance  was  hopeless,  and  it  ceased.  Even  the 
distant  frontier  was  thus  made  aware  that  a  National  Govern 
ment  was  in  existence  and  that  it  could  enforce  its  laws.  It 
is  a  striking  proof,  however,  of  the  dangers  and  trials  that  beset 
the  establishment  of  the  Government,  that  three  years  had 
passed  by  before  these  steps  were  taken  to  crush  lawlessness' 
in  a  few  counties  of  the  frontier. 

Most  of  the  difficulties  of  these  years  were  connected  with 
foreign  affairs.  Politically  independent  of  any  European 

powers,   our   country   was   still   industrially   de- 
lth     Pendent.     Moreover,  the  nation  was  weak,  and 

its  power  was  not  respected  by  foreign  govern 
ments.  England  had  long  refused  to  treat  us  as  an  equal. 
Not  till  1791  did  she  send  a  minister  to  this  country.  The  trea'  y 
of  1783  had  not  been  fulfilled  by  either  party.  England  re 
tained  possession  of  the  military  posts  on  our  Northern  and 
Western  frontier  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States.  She 
gave  as  her  excuse  that,  contrary  to  the  treaty,  the  loyalists  had 
been  persecuted  and  the  British  creditors  prevented  from  col 
lecting  sums  due  them  by  American  citizens.  Her  charges — at 
least  during  the  time  of  the  Confederation — had  too  much  truth 
in  them;  but  her  main  reason  for  retaining  the  Western  posts 
was  her  desire  to  control  the  fur  trade  and  to  maintain  her 
influence  over  the  Indians. 

In  1793  war  broke  out  between  France  and  England.  This 
put  the  United  States  into  an  embarrassing  position.  We  were 
bound  by  the  treaty  of  1778  to  allow  France  certain  privileges 
in  our  ports  not  granted  other  nations,  and  common  grati- 

1  Whisky  actually  took  the  place  of  money  in  the  Western  country.  A 
gallon  of  whisky  was  worth  a  shilling,  and  therefore  a  tax  of  seven  cents  a 
gallon  seemed  very  severe. 


210  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

tude  might  seem  to  force  us  to  her  side  as   an   active  ally. 
True,  the  French  had  not  entered  the  Revolutionary  War  so 

much  for  the  purpose  of  helping  America  as  of 

inJuring  England,  but  they  seemed  to  the  men  of 
France.  that  time  generous  benefactors.  If  by  assisting 

France  we  should  be  drawn  into  war  with  Eng 
land,  it  might  bring  complete  disaster.  The  country  was  just 
beginning  to  hold  up  its  head,  and  to  look  prosperous  and 
hopeful  after  the  trials  of  the  Confederation. 

Washington  concluded  that  we  were  at  least  morally 
justified  in  disregarding  the  French  treaty,  and  he  issued 
Genet  a  Proc^amati°n  of  neutrality.  Just  as  he  did  so 

a  minister  from  the  new  French  republic  landed 
at  Charleston.  He  began  at  once  to  fit  out  privateers  to 
prey  upon  British  commerce,  and  proceeded  to  violate  the 


TRIUMPH  GOVERNMENT:  PERISH  ALL  ITS  ENEMIES 

A  contemporary  caricature  of  Washington  and  his  policies,  with  respect 

to  the  Citizen  Genet  affair.      From  the  original  in  the  possession 

of  the  New  York  Historical  Society 

neutrality  of  the  United  States  and  to  act  in  general  as  if  he 
were  justified  in  doing  what  he  pleased.  He  demanded,  in  a 
lofty  tone,  various  favors  from  the  government,  and  finally  was 
so  impertinent  and  so  outrageous  in  his  conduct  that  Washing- 


FEDERALIST  PARTY  IN  CONTROL— 1789-1801      211 

ton  asked  for  his  recall.  The  most  discouraging  thing  about  the 
whole  affair  was  that  this  fellow,  Genet,  was  hailed  as  a  hero 
as  soon  as  he  landed  on  American  soil.  Men  who  were  in 
shivering  dread  lest  Washington  or  Hamilton  should  make  him 
self  a  king  were  ready  to  pay  kingly  honors  to  this  man  whose 
conduct  was  directed  to  bringing  on  another  war  with  England, 
all  in  the  name  of  liberty,  equality,  and  the  rights  of  man. 
Washington  was  actually  attacked  in  venomous  newspaper  arti 
cles,  and  held  up  as  the  enemy  of  freedom  and  the  friend  of 
monarchy  and  corruption.  Fortunately,  the  insulting  mis 
conduct  of  Genet l  and  the  intemperate  clamors  of  the  French 
partisans  ended  in  winning  to  the  side  of  the  Government  the 
sober-minded  citizens  who  had  sense  enough  to  see  the  real 
situation. 

But  affairs  were  long  in  a  critical  condition.  So  extravagant 
in  their  actions  and  conduct  were  many  of  the  people  that 
insurrection  within  or  war  without  seemed  at 
ag&ressions.  times  almost  inevitable.  England  meanwhile, 
instead  of  wisely  seeking  to  conciliate  and  win  us, 
was  exasperating  in  the  extreme.  American  merchantmen  on 
the  high  seas  were  plundered,  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
bound  with  provisions  to  French  ports  and  that  provisions  were 
"contraband  of  war";  seamen  were  taken  from  American  vessels 
and  forced  to  do  service  on  English  frigates;  and  in  other  ways 
the  commerce  of  the  country  was  attacked  or  outrageously 
interfered  with.  All  this  was  done  under  pretense  of  right,  but 
the  Americans  felt  that  it  was  the  right  of  the  highway  robber. 

Closely  connected  with  these  foreign  complications  were  the 
Indian  troubles  in  the  West.  Not  since  the  end  of  the  Revolu 
tion  had  there  been  a  good  assurance  of  continued 
hostilities.  peace.  The  frontier  was  kept  in  constant  dread 
of  attack,  and  the  only  wonder  is  that  men  and 
women  had  the  hardihood  to  move  across  the  mountains  into  the 

1  Under  authority  from  the  French  Government,  Genet  planned  not 
only  to  cement  a  close  alliance  with  America,  but,  with  the  assistance  of 
the  frontiersmen  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  to  attack  Spain's  possessions  in 
Louisiana  and  Florida,  and  to  win  Canada  for  "liberty  and  equality". 


212  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Northwestern  wilderness  to  suffer  hardships  and  privations  and 
to  imperil  their  lives.  In  1788  a  settlement  was  made  at 
Marietta  by  people  from  New  England,  the  first  settlement  of 
importance  north  of  the  Ohio.  The  frontier,  however,  in  the 
next  few  years  extended  but  little.  Detroit  and  Mackinaw  were 
held  by  the  British.  It  was  popularly  believed  that  the  Indians 
were  incited  to  hostilities  by  the  British  officers.  Though  it  is 
not  true  that  the  English  Government  was  guilty  of  such 
dastardly  conduct,  the  red  men  took  courage  from  the  fact  that 
the  frontier  forts  were  in  the  hands  of  their  former  allies,  and 
they  were  continually  led  to  look  upon  England  as  their  stead 
fast  friend. 

In  1790  an  expedition  sent  out  under  General  Harmar  to 

punish  the  Indians  of  Ohio  was  utterly  routed.     The  next 

year  an  army  under  General  St.   Clair  met  a 

victory.'8  similar  fate.     In  1794  Washington  intrusted  the 

command  of  an  army  to  General  Anthony  Wayne, 

one  of  the  men  of  the  Revolution  upon  whom  the  President 

knew  he  could  rely.     "Mad  Anthony",  as  he  was  sometimes 

called,  gave  no  signs  of  harebrained  rashness.    He  completely 

defeated  the  Indians  in  a  battle  on  the  Maumee,  not  very  far 

from  where  the  city  of  Toledo  now  stands.     In  the  winter 

(1795)   he  formed  the  treaty  of  Greenville  with  the  chiefs. 

The  victory  and  the  treaty  opened  up  a  large  section  of  the 

Northwest  for  settlement;  and  emigrants  from  the  seacoast 

States  were  'soon  pouring  over  the  mountains  to  build  new 

homes  in  the  new  West.    In  seven  years  from 

the  treaty  of  Greenville,  Ohio  was   knocking  for 

admission  into  the  Union — one  of  the  most  striking  facts  in  our 

history. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  year  1794  was  a  dreadful  one. 
The  Government  was  for  a  time  openly  disobeyed  by  the  anti- 
excise  men  of  Pennsylvania.     The  country  was 
inwardly  torn  by  faction,  some  persons  upholding 
England,  and  others  ready  to  accept  the  fraternal 
embrace  of  the  French  republic.     Our  flag  was  insulted  on  the 
seas  and  our  seamen  impressed.    In  the  West  the  Indians  were 


FEDERALIST  PARTY  IN  CONTROL— 1789-1801     213 

hostile  and  were  believed  to  be  encouraged  by  the    English, 
who  still  held  possession  of  our  frontier  forts. 

We  have  seen  how  Washington  overcame  some  of  these 
troubles.     To  come  to  an  understanding  with  England,  he 

now  sent  John  Jay  as  a  special  envoy  to  that 

country.  The  mission  was  a  delicate  one.  Failure 
presumably  meant  war;  and  yet  we  were  in  no  condition  to 
fight.  Jay  succeeded  in  making  a  good  treaty,  the  best  that 
could  be  obtained  under  the  circumstances.  It  was  not  fair 
or  equitable;  England  did  not  give  us  anything  like  fair  commer 
cial  privileges,  nor  did  she  promise  to  give  up  impressment;  but 
she  did  give  up  the  frontier  posts  and  agree  to  pay  for  the  pro 
visions  she  had  seized.  The  United  States  promised  to  pay  debts 
due  British  creditors,  the  collection  of  which  had  been  hindered  in 
the  States.  The  treaty  met  with  violent  opposition  when  its  terms 
were  known  in  America.  Washington  was  vehemently  abused. 
Jay  was  hanged  in  effigy  and  denounced  as  a  traitor.  Hamilton 
was  stoned  when  endeavoring  to  speak  in  behalf  of  the  treaty. 
But,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  clause,  it  was  finally  ratified 
by  the  Senate.  When  the  House  was  called  upon  to  pass  the 
necessary  appropriation  bills  for  carrying  out  the  treaty,  it  called 
upon  Washington  for  the  papers  relating  to  the  matter.  Wash 
ington  refused  to  give  them,  on  the  ground  that  the  House  had 
no  share  in  the  treaty-making  power.  A  great  debate  ensued, 
and  at  length  the  necessary  appropriations  were  made. 

In  the  course  of  Washington's  second  term  both  Jefferson 
and  Hamilton  gave  up  their  offices,  and  other  changes  took 

place  in  the  Cabinet.  At  the  end  the  Cabinet  was 
changes.  decidedly  Federal,  containing  no  longer  members 

of  different  parties  or  representatives  of  different 
political  tendencies. 

Three  new  States  had  by  this  time  been  admitted  to  the 
Union — Vermont,  whose  territory  had  been  claimed  by  both 

New  York  and  New  Hampshire  (1791);  Ken- 
measures.  tucky,  formed  from  what  was  the  western  part  of 

Virginia  (1792);  and  Tennessee  (1796).     A  new 
amendment  to  the  Constitution,  the  eleventh,  was  proposed  in 
is 


214 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


The 

Government 
a  success. 


1794,  but  it  was  not  adopted  till  four  years  later.  It  resulted 
from  the  fact  that  the  Supreme  Court  had  declared  that  a  private 
individual  could  sue  a  State. 

The  end  of  Washington's  administration  saw  the  country 
free  from  many  perils  and  on  the  high  road  to  prosperity.     The 
new  Government  had  weathered  severe  storms  and 
had  proved  itself  efficient.     Much  of  its  success  was 
due   to    the   President's   good  judgment,    sound 
sense,  and  firmness.1    His  chief  assistants  also, 
especially    Hamilton,  deserve  great  credit.    In  spite  of  some 
uneasiness  and  waywardness  among  the  people,  they  had  shown 
to  the  Vorld  the  great  example  of  a  nation  organizing  a  govern 
ment  in  peace  and  giving  it  obedience. 

Washington  refused  to  consider  an  election  for  a  third  term, 
and  in  September,  1796,  issued  a  farewell  address.  This  is  a 
noble  public  docu 
ment.  It  deserves 
careful  reading  to 
day,  and  in  many  ways  fits  our 
times  as  it  did  the  days  of  a 
hundred  years  ago.  He  pleaded 
earnestly  for  a  true  national 
spirit  and  for  devotion  to  coun 
try.  "Do  not  encourage  party 
spirit,  but  use  every  effort  to 
mitigate  it  and  assuage  it.  .  .  . 
Observe  justice  and  faith  tow 
ard  all  nations;  have  neither 
passionate  hatreds  nor  pas 
sionate  attachments  to  any; 
and  be  independent  practically 


The  farewell 
address. 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1796 


1  One  can  hardly  overestimate  the  importance  of  Washington's  personal 
character  upon  the  life  of  his  country.  His  wisdom  and  courage,  his  simple 
integrity,  his  tact  and  forbearance,  his  dignity  and  manliness,  his  purity 
and  magnanimity  of  soul,  exalted  the  nation.  Without  him  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  the  Revolution  could  have  succeeded  or  the  new  Government 
have  been  established. 


FEDERALIST  PARTY  IN  CONTROL— 1789-1801     215 


The  election. 


President. 
important 


of  all.     In  one  word,  be  a  nation,  be  American,  and  be  true 
to  yourselves". 

In  the  election  that  ensued  the  Federalists  supported 
John  Adams  and  Thomas  Pinckney,  and  the  Republicans 
Thomas  Jefferson  and  Aaron  Burr.  At  that  time 
the  Constitution  provided  that  each  elector  should 
vote  for  two  persons.  The  one  having  the  greatest  number  of 
votes  should  be  President,  "if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the 
whole  number  of  electors",  and  the 
person  having  the  next  number 
Vice-President.  Adams  and  Jeffer 
son  were  well-known  men,  and 
each  of  them  received  more  votes 
than  either  of  the  other  two  can 
didates.  Adams  was  elected 
President  and  Jefferson  Vice- 
And  thus  these  two 
positions  in  the  Gov 
ernment  were  filled  by  persons  of 
differing  political  beliefs;  they 
were,  as  Adams  said,  "in  opposite 
boxes".  The  consequence  was 
that  Jefferson  was  bitterly  opposed 
to  most  of  the  work  of  an  admin 
istration  in  which  he  held  the 
second  position. 

Adams  was  a  strong  Federalist,  given,  at  this  time,  to  ideas 
somewhat  lofty  and  aristocratic.  He  had  had  wide  experience 
in  affairs  of  state  and  had  acquired  merited  dis 
tinction.  Having  no  sympathy  with  the  popular 
theories  of  Jefferson,  he  was,  on  the  other  hand,  not  successful 
in  winning  the  full  confidence  and  support  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Federalists,  who  still  looked  on  Hamilton  as  the  head  of  their 
party.  Adams'  inability  to  win  strong  personal  support  was 
in  part  due  to  a  mixture  of  pride  and  sensitiveness,  which 
were  essential  elements  of  his  character,  and  in  part  to  a  cer 
tain  stiffness  of  manner;  but  he  was  withal  a  sturdy  patriot 


216  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

and  an  honest,  able  man.  He  inherited  from  Washington's 
administration  two  difficulties:  first,  trouble  with  France;  sec 
ond,  at  home,  a  condition  of  party  rancor  and  of  popular 
uneasiness,  which  were  in  reality  not  very  dangerous  but  gave 
real  anxiety  to  the  men  in  office  charged  with  making  the 
government  a  success. 

Jay's  treaty  did  not  put  an  end  to  foreign  troubles.     Eng 
land,  indeed,  treated  us  with  more  consideration  than  before; 
but  France  seemed  utterly  regardless  of  how  she 

Difficulties  11  •  t  «.•"«•«  r 

with  France.  abused  a  young  nation  whom  she  did  not  fear, 
and  she  was  now  wroth  with  the  United  States 
because  the  government  had  come  to  terms  with  England 
without  her  august  sanction.  Monroe,  whom  Washington 
had  sent  as  a  minister  to  Paris,  was  recalled  in  1796,  because  he 
was  too  ready  to  receive  French  compliments  and  too  lax 
about  pressing  upon  the  government  our  demands  for  damages. 
The  United  States  had  long  been  suffering  from  the  depreda 
tions  of  the  French  upon  our  commerce.  French  war  ships 
ruthlessly  plundered  American  merchantmen.  They  had  not, 
on  the  whole,  done  so  much  damage  as  the  English  men-of-war, 
but  that  was  not  because  the  French  naval  officers  lacked  the 
will  and  the  desire,  but  was  due  to  the  fact  that  France  was  less 
powerful  on  the  sea  than  England,  and  was  less  capable  of 
injuring  neutral  commerce.1 

Charles  C.  Pinckney  was  sent  to  Paris  as  our  minister  to 
succeed  Monroe;  but,  instead  of  being  courteously  received,  he 
was  shamefully  treated  by  the  French  Government.  Our 
Government  was  given  to  understand  that  a  minister  would  not 
be  received  until  grievances  were  redressed,  as  if,  forsooth, 
America,  not  France,  had  been  the  aggressor.  With  the  hope  of 
bringing  France  to  her  senses,-  Adams  appointed  a  commission 
of  three  persons,  John  Marshall,  Elbridge  Gerry,  and  Charles 
C.  Pinckney.  These  men,  instead  of  being  treated  with  official 
courtesy,  were  waited  on  in  Paris  by  secret  messengers  sent  by 
Talleyrand,  the  French  minister,  who  made  most  extraordinary 

1  For  some  years  after  the  treaty  of  1794  England  did  not  injure  our 
commerce  much. 


FEDERALIST  PARTY  IN  CONTROL— 1789-1801      217 

and  insulting  demands.  One  of  their  requests  was  for  a  bribe 
for  the  members  of  the  French  Directory.  They  said  they 
wanted  "money,  a  great  deal  of  money". l  The  commis 
sioners  found  their  situation  humiliating  and  unbearable. 
Marshall  and  Pinckney  left  Paris;  Gerry  unwisely  remained  for 
a  time,  but  accomplished  nothing. 

The  President  sent  to  Congress  the  dispatches  of  the  com 
mission,  April,   1798.     The  names  of  the  French  messengers 
were  not  given,  but  the  letters  X,  Y,  Z  supplied 
correspondence    tne*r  places<>  hence  this  whole  difficulty  is  often 
called  the  X  Y  Z  affair.     Congress  and  the  country 
at  large  were  amazed  and  angry  at  the  treatment  accorded  our 
envoys.    Adams  proclaimed  that  he  would  not  send  "another 
minister  to  France  without  assurance  that  he  would  be  received 
as  the  representative  of  a  great,  free,  powerful,  and  independent 
nation". 

Preparation  was  made  for  war.  An  army  was  organized, 
and  Washington  given  the  command.  The  navy  was  increased. 
Battles  were  actually  fought  at  sea  and  a  general 
war  seeme<^  inevitable.  But  the  French  Govern 
ment  was  readier  to  intimidate  and  browbeat  than 
to  fight.  Upon  this  great  question  of  national  honor  the  Ameri 
can  people  were  no  longer  dangerously  divided  into  hostile 
factions.  The  French  sympathies  of  the  Republicans  were  not 
strong  enough  to  make  them  accept  insults  willingly. 

When  it  was  evident  that  America  was  ready  to  fight, 

Talleyrand,  the  wily  minister,  whose  methods  and  words  had 

been    so    exasperating,    thought   it   best    to    try 

France  retracts.     ,.„  ,r        TT  OJ  ~   .    .  .    .       J 

different  tactics.  He  suggested  in  a  roundabout 
way  that  France  would  be  ready  to  receive  a  minister  from  the 
United  States  "with  the  respect  due  to  the  representative  of  a 
free,  independent,  and  powerful  nation".  This  declaration  of 

1  "Said  he  (M.  X.):  'Gentlemen,  you  do  not  speak  to  the  point:  it  is 
money;  it  is  expected  you  will  offer  money'.  We  said  we  had  spoken  to 
that  point  very  explicitly;  we  had  given  an  answer.  'No',  said  he,  'you 
have  not.  What  is  your  answer'  ?  We  replied:  'It  is  no;  no;  no;  not  a  six 
pence'".  (Report  of  the  commission.) 


218  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

penitence  was  not  so  open  and  straightforward  as  might  have 
been  desired,  but  Adams  wisely  decided  to  make  the  best  of  it, 
and  a  commission  was^appointed  to  proceed  to  France  and  settle 
the  difficulties.  This  was  successfully  accomplished  and  friendly 
relations  were  thus  reestablished. 

Almost  from  the  beginning  of  Washington's  administration, 
parties  had  differed  with  regard  to  foreign  policy.    The  Federal 
ists  were  eager  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  Eng- 

land;  they  were  called  "the  British  faction"  by 
opposition.  their  opponents,  and  charged  with  truckling  to  the 
interest  of  that  country.  As  we  have  seen,  the 
Federalists  were  specially  strong  in  New  England,  and  the  com 
mercial  interests  of  this  section  prompted  them  to  wish  to  keep 
out  of  trouble  with  the  country  whose  power  on  the  sea  seemed 
invincible.  The  Republicans,  on  the  other  hand,  had  fellow- 
feeling  for  France.  Even  the  extravagances  of  the  French 
Revolution  did  not  shock  some  of  them.  England  was  to  them 
the  abode  of  despotism,  France  the  home  of  liberty.  This 
sympathy  was  not  unnatural,  but,  carried  to  an  extreme  by  the 
more  excitable  element  of  the  people,  it  had  caused  trouble. 
There  were  in  the  country  many  men  who  were  worthless 
fellows,  foreigners  who  rejoiced  in  railing  at  the  Government, 
ridiculing  Adams,  and  indulging  in  general  abuse  of  those  in 
authority.  These  men  were  in  the  Republican  party;  but  that 
party  should  not  be  judged  by  the  follies  of  its  most  foolish 
members.  The  X  Y  Z  disclosures  for  a  time  put  an  end  to 
faction.  All  reasonable  men  were  united  in  their  readiness  to 
defend  America  against  insult.  The  Federalists  felt  that  now 
was  the  time  to  act,  that  "democracy"  was  permanently  dis 
credited,  that  false  and  malicious  criticism  of  Government  should 
be  made  a  crime.  They  decided  to  take  advantage  of  their 
power  to  crush  factious  opposition.  With  this  end  in  view 
three  acts  were  passed  (1798):  i.  The  Naturaliza- 
tion  Act  lengthened  the  time  of  residence  required 
before  a  foreigner  could  become  a  citizen.  2.  The 
Alien  Act  empowered  the  President  to  exclude  dangerous 
foreigners  from  the  country.  3.  The  Sedition  Act  made  it  a 
t 


- 

FEDERALIST  PARTY  IN  CONTROL— 1789-1801     219 

crime  to  print  or  publish  "any  false,  scandalous,  and  malicious 
writings  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  or  either 
house  of  the  Congress,  or  the  President,  with  intent  to  defame 
them  or  to  bring  them  into  disrepute".  The  last  two  laws  were 
dangerous  in  their  nature.  The  Sedition  Act  might  well  be  so 
enforced  as  to  make  all  criticism  of  governmental  action  a 
crime. 

These  laws  were  vigorously  denounced  by  the  Republicans 
in  Congress  as  tyrannical  and  unconstitutional,  as  laws  that 
"would  have  disgraced  the  age  of  Gothic  barbar- 
Virginiaand  fty".  ^hen  they  had  been  passed,  the  party 
resolutions.  leaders  decided  that  a  formal  protest  must  be 
made.  The  mode  chosen  was  unfortunate.  The 
Legislatures  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky  each  passed  a  series  of 
resolutions  condemning  the  laws  as  unconstitutional  and  void, 
and  declaring  the  right  of  the  States  to  interpose  and  to  main 
tain  their  rights.  These  resolutions  came  from  distinguished 
authors.  Madison  drew  up  the  Virginia  resolutions,  and, 
though  Jefferson's  name  was  for  a  time  hidden,  he  was  the  real 
author  of  those  of  Kentucky.  As  to  how  we  are  to  read  these 
instruments  scholars  may  yet  differ.  Madison  in  later  years 
indignantly  denied  that  he  had  meant  to  advocate  the  doctrine 
that  a  single  State  could  declare  void  an  act  of  the  National 
Government  and  prevent  its  enforcement  within  the  limits 
of  such  State;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  doctrine  of  "nullifica 
tion"  and  the  related  doctrine  of  secession  did  in  course  of 
time  draw  encouragement  and  sustenance  from  these  reso 
lutions.1 


1  The  Virginia  resolutions  declared  that  "this  Assembly  .  .  .  views  the 
powers  of  the  Federal  Government  as  resulting  from  the  compact  to  which 
the  States  are  parties,  .  .  .  and  that  in  case  of  a  deliberate,  palpable,  and 
dangerous  exercise  of  other  powers,  not  granted  by  the  said  compact,  the 
States  .  .  .  have  the  right  and  are  in  duty  bound  to  interpose  for  arresting 
the  progress  of  the  evil  and  for  maintaining  within  their  limits  the  author 
ities,  rights,  and  liberties  appertaining  to  them".  The  first  series  of  Ken 
tucky  resolutions  declared  that  "each  party  has  an  equal  right  to  judge  for 
itself,  as  well  of  infractions  as  of  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress";  while 
the  second  series  said  "that  a  nullifiation  by  those  sovereignties  [the  States], 


220  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

When  the  war  cloud  blew  over,  the  Federalists  were  left 
in  an  unenviable  plight.  The  expenses  of  the  Government  had 
been  materially  increased,  a  direct  tax  had  been 
the  Federalists!  levied,  and  acts  unnecessarily  harsh  had  been 
placed  on  the  statute  books.  Moreover,  the 
party  itself  was  divided.  Many  were  opposed  to  Adams  on 
personal  grounds;  they  believed  that  his  readiness  to  treat  with 
France  was  disloyalty  to  the  party.  Adams  found  it  necessary 
to  reorganize  his  Cabinet,  because  some  'of  the  members  looked 
to  Hamilton  as  their  leader  and  guide.  This  factional  bitterness 
was  sure  to  tell  against  the  Federalists  in  the  election.  In 
addition  to  all  this  was  the  fact  that  the  people  were  really  at 
heart  democratic,  and  the  mild,  hopeful  principles  of  Jefferson 
were  more  to  their  liking  than  the  sterner,  repressive  teachings 
of  the  party  whose  task  it  had  been  to  put  the  Government  in 
working  order.1 

The  Republican  candidates  were  the  same  as  in  1796, 
Jefferson  and  Burr.  The  Federalists  put  forward  Adams  and 
Charles  C.  Pinckney.  The  Republicans  were  suc- 
cessful.  The  result,  however,  was  not  what  they 
had  expected.  Both  of  their  candidates  had  re 
ceived  the  same  number  of  votes,  and  thus  the  election -was 
thrown  into  the  House  of  Representatives.  The  Federalists 
were  in  the  majority  there.  To  many  of  these  men  Jeffer 
son  seemed  not  only  the  chief  enemy  of  their  party,  but  a 
dangerous  man;  they  therefore  voted  for  Burr.  According  to 


of  all  unauthorized  acts  ...  is  the  rightful  remedy  ".  It  is  now  well  decided 
that,  although  the  Central  Government  has  only  the  authority  given  by  the 
Constitution,  it  can  judge  of  the  extent  of  the  authority  so  given.  The 
Supreme  Court  is  final  judge;  but  of  course  through  an  amendment  to 
the  Constitution  the  states  can  determine  or  set  new  limits. 

1  In  the  autumn  of  1800  Congress  assembled  for  the  first  time  at  Wash 
ington.  It  was  then  a  rude  town  of  about  five  hundred  people.  With  few 
exceptions  the  houses  were  huts.  The  inhabitants  were  negroes,  or  idlers 
who  expected  to  get  rich  at  once  from  the  sale  of  their  lands.  It  was  a 
gloomy,  unpromising  place.  "We  want  nothing  here",  said  Gouverneur 
Morris,  "but  houses,  cellars,  kitchens,  well  informed  men,  amiable  women, 
and  other  trifles  of  this  kind  to  make  our  city  perfect". 


FEDERALIST  PARTY  IN  CONTROL—  1789-1801     221 

the  Constitution  the  vote  was  by  States.  Out  of  sixteen  States, 
eight  voted  for  Jefferson,  six  for  Burr,  and  two  were  evenly 
divided.  The  balloting  continued  several  days,  until  it  was 
feared  that  no  election  would  take  place,  and  that  some  extra 
constitutional  device  must  be  resorted  to;  but,  fortunately, 
patriotism  and  sense  finally  overcame  partisanship,  and  Jeffer 
son  was  elected  (February  17,1801).  Burr  was  a  man  utterly 
without  principle  and  wholly  selfish.  He  was  practiced  in  the 
worst  arts  of  political  management.  His  election  as  Vice- 
President  was  bad  enough;  had  the  Federalists  succeeded  in 
making  him  President,  it  would  have  been  the  crowning  shame 
of  partisanship.  In  order  to  avoid  in  the  future  such  trouble  as 
this,  Congress  proposed  the  twelfth  amendment  to  trie  Constitu 
tion,  and  it  was  adopted  by  the  States  (1804).  It  provided  that 
the  electors  should  cast  a  ballot  for  President,  and  separate 
ballot  for  Vice-President.1 

By  the  end  of  Adams's  administration  parties  were  formed 
and  organized  as  they  were  to  remain  without  much  change  for 
some  years.  Hamilton's  financial  measures  had  attracted  into 
the  Federal  party  the  commercial  classes  of  the  North.  All  the 
elements  of  society  whose  chief  desire  was  stability  and  strength 
found  their  way  into  the  party  that  was  seeking  to  give  force 
and  character  to  the  National  Government.  The  task  of  the 
Federal  party  had  been  to  establish  the  Government  and  to 
bring  about  order  and  system.  When  this  was  accomplished 
its  usefulness  was  in  large  measure  over,  and  it  gave  way  to  the 
Republican  party. 

REFERENCES 

HART,  American  History  Told  by  Contemporaries,  Volume  III, 
p.  322.  HART,  Formation  of  the  Union,  pp.  137-175.  WALKER,  The 
Making  of  the  Nation,  Chapters  V-VIII.  H.  C.  LODGE,  George 


election  of  1800  marks  the  victory  of  the  party  system;  the  con 
stitution  had  not  contemplated  parties.  The  method  provided  by  the  Con 
stitution  for  choosing  President  and  Vice-President  would  not  work  well 
when  parties  were  formed  and  when  there  were  party  candidates;  for,  if 
each  elector  should  cast  his  two  votes  for  the  two  candidates  of  this  party, 
there  would  always  be  a  tie. 


222 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Washington,  Vol.  II,  Chaps.  II-IV.  MORSE,  Thomas  Jejferson, 
Chaps.  VIII-X,  XII.  LODGE,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Chaps.  V-IX. 
SCHOULER,  Thomas  Je/erson,  Chaps.  X-XI.  STEVENS,  Albert 
Gallatin,  Chap.  IV.  MORSE,  John  Adams,  pp.  237-318.  MCMASTER, 
History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  I,  pp.  525-604;  II,  pp. 
I-S33-  SCHOULER,  History  of  the  United  Slates,  Vol.  I,  Chaps.  II-IV. 
BASSETT,  Federalist  System.  (Last  three  longer  accounts.) 


RECEPTION  OF  WASHINGTON  AT  TRENTON,  N.  J.,  APRIL  21,  1789,  ON  His 

WAY  TO  His  INAUGURATION 
From  the  Columbian  Magazine  of  May,  1789 


CHAPTER  XII 


Jefferson's 
doctrines. 


JEFFERSONIAN    DEMOCRACY— INTERNAL 
DEVELOPMENT 

The  new  President  was  a  man  of  strong  parts,  with  a  great 
faculty  of  winning  men  and  of  filling  them  with  his  own  ideas 
and  hopes.  When  positive  action  was  necessary 
he  was  at  times  weak,  and  was  given  to  idealizing 
when  the  actual  should  have  occupied  his  atten 
tion.  But  his  ideals  were  on  the  whole  noble  and  wise,  for  he 
seemed  to  foresee  the  coming  life 
of  his  country.  He  was  bitterly 
opposed  to  anything  that  might 
fasten  upon  this  young  land  the 
burdens  under  which  the  people  of 
Europe  suffered.  America  was  for 
man ;  and,  if  man  were  to  make  the 
most  of  himself,  he  must  not  be 
oppressed  by  a  smothering  upper 
crust  of  nobility,  by  heavy  taxes 
that  consumed  his  substance,  by 
big  armies  and  navies,  by  a  huge 
and  expensive  government.  War, 
too,  was  to  be  avoided.  "  Peace 
is  our  passion",  he  declared.  The 
essence  of  Jeffersonism  is  con 
tained  in  the  thought  that  Amer 
ica  means  opportunity.1 

1  See  Jefferson's  inaugural  address;  McLaughlin,  Readings. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  there  came  to  the  presidential  chair,  just  at 
the  beginning  of  the  new  century,  this  man  of  generous  ideals,  who  looked 
out  boldly  upon  the  new  continent  and  had  visions  of  the  growth  of  popu 
lar  government  and  of  man's  upbuilding. 

223 


224  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

In  carrying  out  the  policy  of  his  administration  Jefferson 
was  ably  assisted  by  Madison,  his  Secretary  of  State,  and  by 
Albert  Gallatin,  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Up  to  this  time 
the  Republican  party  had  been  opposed  to  an  extension  of  the 
powers  of  the  National  Government.  But  now  that  they  were 
in  power  the  Constitution  was  broadly  construed,  and  much  was 
done  to  increase  the  strength  of  the  nation  and  to  bind  its  parts 
together.  It  is  easy  enough  to  accuse  the  Republicans  of  in 
constancy.  In  a  large  measure  they  did  not  follow  the  policy 
they  had  set  up  when  they  were  a  party  of  opposition.  But,  as 
we  shall  see,  Jefferson  strove  on  the  whole  to  live  up  to  his 
fundamental  theories,  to  avoid  war  and  develop  a  peaceful 
nation.  Neither  he  nor  his  best  advisers  forgot  their  funda 
mental  doctrine  of  faith  in  the  people.  And,  on  the  whole, 
the  people  trusted  him  as  he  trusted  them;  triumphantly 
reflected  in  1804,  he  continued  in  the  presidential  chair  till 
1809  and  was  able  to  turn  over  the  presidency  to  Madison, 
who  believed  in  Jeffersonian  principles  and  sought  to  follow  in 
the  steps  of  the  great  founder  of  the  party. 

It  is  an  amusing  fact  that  one  of  the  first  things  that  Jefferson 
had  to  do — this  lover  of  peace — was  to  send  some  of  the  dreadful 
warships,  which  the  Federalist  administration  had 
built>  across  the  Atlantic  to  whip  the  Algerian 
pirates.  The  job  was  well  done,  and  the  Barbary 
powers  which  had  been  the  scourges  of  the  ocean,  seizing 
American  ships  and  enslaving  American  seamen,  were  given  a 
summary  lesson.  To  chastise  them  soundly  proved  a  better 
policy  and  a  cheaper  one  than  paying  tribute — the  older  practice 
—  and  trying  to  satisfy  the  greed  of  the  hungry  fellows. 

Just  before  Adams  left  office  the  Federalists  had  passed  an 
act  creating  a  number  of  new  judgeships  and  extending  the 
judicial  system.  The  new  places  thus  provided 
were  a11  filled  with  Federalists.  It  was  reported 
that  Adams  on  the  last  day  of  his  administration 
was  busy  up  to  midnight  filling  fat  offices  with  his  own  party 
followers,  the  "midnight  appointments".  The  Republicans, 
upon  getting  in  power,  repealed  the  act  which  created  the  new 


JEFFERSONIAN  DEMOCRACY  225 

judicial  offices,  and  the  judges  were  thus  deprived  of  their 
positions.  It  was  claimed  by  the  Federalists  that  this  violated 
the  Constitution,  which  provided  that  judges  were  to  hold  office 
during  good  behavior.  There  was  great  ill  feeling  on  both 
sides.1  At  this  same  time  arose  an  interesting  law  case.  A 

man  named  Marbury  had  been  appointed  to  an 
Madison  V£  office  by  Adams,  but  his  commission  had  not  been 

delivered.  He  asked  the  Supreme  Court  for  an 
order  directing  Madison,  Jefferson's  Secretary  of  State,  to  give 
him  the  commission.  This  the  Court  refused  to  do  on  the 
ground  that  the  writ,  or  order,  he  asked  for  could  not  be  issued 
in  a  suit  begun  in  the  Supreme  Court,  because  the  Constitution 
did  not  give  the  Court  such  power.  This  was  a  very  impor 
tant  case,  because  it  declared  void  a  part  of  the  judiciary  act  of 
1789,  and  it  was  the  first  clear  assertion  by  the  Supreme  Court 
that  it  could  declare  void  an  act  of  Congress.2 

This  power  of  a  court  to  declare  that  a  law  passed  by  Con 
gress  is  void,  or  the  similar  power  exercised  by  State  courts  to 
declare  acts  of  the  State  legislature  void,  has  become  a  matter  of 
exceedingly  great  interest,  for  the  practice  grew  as  time  went 
on.  It  rested  on  the  principle  that  the  Constitution  is  law  and, 
therefore,  anything  contrary  to  it,  even  an  act  passed  by  Con 
gress,  cannot  be  law;  the  act  then  must  give  way.  Similarly  as 
the  legislature  of  a  State  is  bound  by  the  terms  of  the  State 

1  It  is  hard  to  see  how  the  Federalists  could  well  maintain  their  point. 
The  Constitution  in  giving  the  right  to  Congress  to  establish  inferior  fed 
eral  courts  (see  Constitution,  Art.  Ill,  Sec.  i.)  naturally  gave  it  the  right  to 
disestablish  the  courts  and  rearrange  the  system.     Congress  could  not 
remove  a  judge  from  an  existing  office;  but  it  could  take  the  office  out  from 
under  him. 

2  The  Judiciary  Act  of  1 789,  which  established  the  Federal  courts,  provided 
for  the  issuing  of  such  orders  in  "original  proceedings"  before  the  Supreme 
Court,  that  is  to  say,  in  proceedings  or  suits  begun  in  that  court  and  not 
brought  by  appeal  from  lower  courts.    Marshall,  therefore,  in  this  decision 
found  it  necessary  to  declare  that  portion  of  the  Judiciary  Act  unconstitu 
tional  and  he  refused  to  grant  the  order.    The  constitution  gives  "original 
jurisdiction"  to  the  Supreme  Court  in  only  two  kinds  of  cases,  and  the 
Marbury  case  belonged  to  neither  one  of  thess  kinds.    See  Const.,  Art. 
Ill,  Sec.  2,  par.  2. 


226 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Impeachments. 


constitution,  a  legislative  act  contrary  to  the  constitution  of  the 
state  cannot  be  good. 

The. decision  of  the  Court  in  the  Marbury  Case  irritated 
Jefferson  exceedingly,  not  so  much  because  the  Court  had  de 
clared  a  portion  of  the  law  unconstitutional — for 
Jefferson,  if  he  had  seen  the  whole  thing  clearly, 
might  naturally  be  expected  in  accordance  with  his  theories  to 
have  welcomed  restriction  on  legislative  power — but  because 

Marshall  in  giving  the  decision  had 
criticised  the  administration  sharply 
for  not  turning  the  commission  over 
to  Marbury.  Jefferson  disliked  Mar 
shall  anyway,  and  Marshall  had  no 
sort  of  regard  for  his  fellow  Virgin 
ian  in  the  presidential  chair.  Partly 
because  of  this  feeling  of  irritation 
against  the  judiciary,  two  Federal 
judges  were  impeached.  One  of  them, 
Judge  Pickering,  a  district  judge  in 
a  Federal  district  in  New  Hampshire, 
was  shown  to  be  given  to  drink,  was 
probably  insane,  and  was  rightly  re 
moved  from  office.  The  other,  Judge 
Chase,  was  justly  charged  with  ut 
terances  from  the  bench  which  were 
at  the  best  out  of  taste;  but  the  Senate  did  not  convict  him  of 
"high  crimes  and  misdemeanors"  and  remove  him  from  office.1 
In  some  degree  the  charges  against  Chase  were  looked  upon 
as  an  attack  on  the  independence  of  judges;  and  the  failure 
of  the  impeachment  gave  assurance  that  judges  would  be  re 
moved  only  for  serious  offences.2  Under  the  able  leadership  of 

1  For  Impeachment,  see  the  Constitution  Art.  I,  Sec.  2,  §  6;  Art.  II, 
Sec.  4.    The  House  makes  the  charges;  the  Senate  tries.    What  is  the  defi 
nition  of  "high  crimes  and  misdemeanors"  as  the  words  are  used  in  the 
Constitution  nobody  can  say;  probably  they  were  not  intended  to  mean 
crimes  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word. 

2  The  Supreme  Court  was  long  a  stronghold  of  the  Federalists,  and  that 


INTERNAL   DEVELOPMENT  227 

Marshall  the  Court  went  on   and  became  firmly  established 

in  the  respect  and  affection  of  the  people.      Marshall  was  the 

greatest  judge  in  our  history,1  not  because  he  was 

The  a  great  lawyer — other  men  have  equaled  him  in  that 

development  *  \  ,  £  i_-    i_ 

of  the  Court.  respect — but  because  he  was  a  statesman  of  high 
order,  and,  with  marvelous  ability  and  insight 
comprehended  and  interpreted  the  fundamental  law  of  the 
land  in  accord  with  its  deepest  needs  and  purposes.  Judge 
Story  was  likewise  a  great  jurist,  and  did  much  to  establish  the 
dignity  of  this  branch  of  our  Government.  The  respect  which 
the  people  came  to  feel  for  the  Court  and  their  readiness  to 
abide  by  its  decisions  were  encouraging  and  wholesome  features 
of  our  national  life. 

The  Federalists  in  New  York,  and  above  all  in  New  England, 

were  restless  in  the  extreme  under  the  Jeffersonian  rule.     As  the 

days  went  by  and  it  appeared  that  the  Repub- 

conspiracy.         licans  were  firmly  in  possession  of  power  in  the 

national   government,    some    of   the    disgruntled 

Federalists  were  prepared  to  go  great  lengths  to  get  rid  of 

the  Virginia  leaders  and  to  have  their  own  way.     Many  seemed 

to  believe  that  the  country  was  on  the  brink  of  destruction 

because  of  the  misdeeds  of  the  Jeffersonians.    They  believed 


fact  was  trying  to  some  of  the  over-zealous  Republicans;  and  Chase's 
impeachment  was  therefore  partly  due  to  his  intense  devotion  to  the  Fed 
eralists  and  his  dislike  of  the  other  party.  Because  of  heated  partizanship 
some  of  the  Republican  leaders  long  distrusted  or  disliked  the  Judiciary. 
Jefferson  said  over  and  over  again  that  impeachment  was  only  a  "scare 
crow",  and  one  of  his  weaknesses  was  his  unbending  dislike  of  Marshall. 
Both  of  them  were  great  men.  One  believed  most  strongly  in  order,  gov 
ernment  and  justice,  the  other  in  liberty  and  individual  improvement — • 
it  is  hard  to  tell  which  ideas  are  higher  and  better. 

1  Marshall  was  chief  justice  from  1801  to  1835.  Story  was  appointed 
in  1811.  Mr.  Bryce  thus  speaks  of  Marshall:  "It  is  scarcely  an  exaggera 
tion  to  call  him,  as  an  eminent  American  jurist  has  done,  a  second  maker 
of  the  Constitution.  .  .  .  Marshall  was,  of  course,  only  one  among  seven 
judges,  but  his  majestic  intellect  and  the  elevation  of  his  character  gave 
him  such  an  ascendancy  that  he  found  himself  only  once  in  a  minority  on 
a  Constitutional  question"  .  (The  American  Commonwealth,  vol.  I,  p.  374, 
first  American  edition.) 


228  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

that  Democracy  would  soon  cause  the  overthrow  of  all  respecta 
ble  government.1  The  more  hot-headed  among  them  actually 
discussed  in  secret  the  advisability  of  dissolving  the  Union. 
Aaron  Burr,  whose  foul  ambition  could  ever  be  relied  on,  was 
to  be  used  as 'a  tool  by  these  conspirators,  and  one  of  the  first 
steps  was  to  try  to  secure  his  election  as  governor  of  New  York. 
Hamilton,  who  was  bitterly  opposed  to  the  whole  treasonable 
scheme,  used  all  his  influence  against  it,  and  it  was  due  to  his 
opposition,  in  no  small  measure,  that  the  intrigue  was  a  failure 
and  Burr  was  defeated.  Burr,  thereupon  challenged  Hamilton 
to  a  duel  and  killed  him  (1804)!  The  treasonable  conspiracy, 
for  the  time,  at  least,  died  out.  A  few  years  later  there  seems 
to  have  been  a  renewal  of  these  whispered  plots  among  some  of 
the  more  bitter  Federalist  partisans.  The  great  majority  of  the 
New  England  people  were  never  guilty  of  the  crime  or  folly  of 
planning  the  destruction  of  the  Union.  Despite  all  the  mean 
intriguing  and  the  open  dissatisfaction  of  the  Federalist  leaders, 
Jefferson  got  the  full  electoral  vote  in  the  election  of  1804,  save 
those  of  Connecticut  and  Delaware  and  two  votes  in  Maryland. 
Hamilton's  death  startled  and  shocked  the  Northern  people, 
and  had  its  effect  in  doing  away  with  the  brutal  practice  of 
Hamii  n  settling  personal  disputes  upon  "the  field  of 

honor".  Burr  was  indicted  for  murder  and  fled 
the  State,  followed  by  the  execration  of  the  public.  This  awful 
tragedy  is  the  most  dramatic  episode  in  the  early  history  of  our 
Union.  Hamilton  had  in  reality  offered  up  his  life  for  his 
country.  He  had  served  her  well,  and  perhaps  this  was  not  an 
inappropriate  close  of  a  great  career.  With  a  wonderful  capac 
ity  for  government  and  the  tasks  of  civil  administration,  with 
a  strong  grasp  of  political  principles  and  a  profound  knowledge 
of  public  law,  gifted  with  financial  skill  of  a  high  order,  and 
handling  details  with  as  much  ease  as  he  comprehended  systems, 
he  stands  forth  as  one  of  the  greatest  constructive  statesmen  of 
his  generation. 

1  They  used  what  has  since  been  called  the  Federalist  syllogism — "dem 
ocracy,  anarchy,  despotism":  the  first  would  lead  to  the  second,  the  second 
to  the  third. 


INTERNAL    DEVELOPMENT  229 

Disappointed  in  his  ambitions  in  the  East,  Burr  now  en 
tered  upon  a  desperate  undertaking  in  the  West  (1805-6). 
Exactly  what  his  plans  were  is  somewhat  uncer- 
tain-  Perhaps  he  hardly  knew  himself  what  he 
hoped  to  do.  Indeed,  at  different  times  and  to 
different  persons  his  plans  assumed  different  aspects.  He 
was  probably  intent  upon  attacking  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico, 
and  may  have  also  hoped  for  power  and  grandeur  as  the  head 
of  a  Western  empire.  Possibly  the  story  is  not  ill  told  in  a 
letter  written  at  the  time  by  one  who  was  in  the  secret:  "Ken 
tucky,  Tennessee,  the  State  of  Ohio,  the  four  Territories  on  the 
Mississippi  and  Ohio,  with  part  of  Georgia  and  Carolina,  are  to 
be  bribed  with  the  plunder  of  the  Spanish  countries  west  of  us 
to  separate  from  the  Union".  It  was  a  wild  and  foolish  plan, 
such  as  could  be  begotten  only  in  the  brain  of  a  man  who  was  so 
devoid  of  principle  and  patriotism  himself  that  he  could  not 
appreciate  such  qualities  in  others.  He  interested  many  per 
sons  in  his  conspiracy,  chief  among  whom  was  General  Wilkin 
son,  Governor  of  the  Louisiana  Territory;  but  Burr  was  at 
length  arrested  and  tried  for  treason  (1807).  He  was  not  con 
victed,  however,  because  it  could  hot  be  proved  1  that  he  had 
actually  levied  war  upon  the  United  States 

The  one  event  which  stands  out  above  all  others  in  the 
history  of  Jefferson's  day  is  the  annexation  of  Louisiana — 
the  acquisition  of  the  great  West,  stretching  from 
"  the  Mississippi  on  to  the  Rockies  and  from  the 
gulf  north  to  the  British  possessions.  It  is  a  long 
story,  this  story  of  the  struggle  for  the  ownership  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  Valley:  for  the  ownership  of  the  valley  and  the  control 
of  the  great  river  came  to  us  only  after  they  had  been  mat 
ters  of  consequence  in  European  and  American  war  and  di 
plomacy  for  a  hundred  years  and  more.  France,  as  we  remem- 

1The  Constitution  declares  that  "treason  against  the  United  States 
shall  consist  only  in  levying  war  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  ene 
mies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort".  (Constitution,  art.  iii,  sec.  3.) 

When  Marshall  refused  to  hold  Burr  for  treason  on  the  evidence  sub 
mitted,  Jefferson  was  more  angry  than  ever. 
16 


230 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


ber,  had  first  held  the  whole  region;  then  it  was  divided 
between  England  and  Spain  (1763);  next  the  United  States 
was  given  the  eastern  half  north  of  the  thirty-first  parallel, 
though  Spain  held  the  mouth  of  the  river  (1783).  As  the 
West  developed  in  the 
years  after  the  Revolution 
our  need  of  free  and  open 
Vater  commurn'cation  with 
the  Gulf  became  impera 
tive. 

Since  the  time  of   the 

Revolution  the  Mississippi 

question  had 

The  Mississippi  ?  , 

question.  been  of  great 

importance. 

That  great  river,  with  its 
tributaries,  formed  high 
ways  to  the  sea  for  the 
people  west  of  the  moun 
tains.  To  float  their  heavy 
flatboats  down  to  New 
Orleans  was  an  easier  task 
than  to  carry  burdens  by 

the  long  route  overland  to  From  a  tablet  j?  St.  Louis,  sculptured  by 
,,  ...  ,  ,,  .  .  .  Karl  Bitter 

the  cities  of  the  Atlantic. 

It  seems  strange  but  it  is  an  important  fact  in  Western  and  na 
tional  history,  that  until  the  days  of  canals  and  railroads  the 
Western  people  faced  southward  rather  than  eastward.1 

Every  passing  year  made  the  need  and  desire  of  the  West 
more  pressing;  for  the  West  was  growing.     Already  (1803)  there 
were  three  States  beyond  the  mountains,  Ohio  hav- 
™Z  Just  been  admitted.    To  the  man  who  could 
imagine  a  tithe  of  the  future  growth  of  the  country, 
the  possession  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  seemed  a  simple 


SIGNING  THE  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE 
TREATY 


1  A  very  clear  account  of  the  Mississippi  question  is  to  be  found  in  How 
to  Study  and  Teach  History,  by  B.  A.  Hinsdale,  chap.  xx. 


INTERNAL  DEVELOPMENT  231 

necessity.  " There  is  one  spot",  said  Jefferson,  "the  possessor 
of  which  is  our  natural  and  habitual  enemy".  That  spot  was 
New  Orleans,  and  Jefferson  fully  realized  that  sooner  or  later 
we  must  possess  it. 

For  twenty  years  and  more  our  relations  with  Spain  had 
been  delicate  and  trying;  for  she  held  not  only  the  great  West 
but  the  mouth  of  the  river  and  had  only  grudg- 
ing!y  allowed  (I79S)1  the  free  right  of  navigation 
to  the  sea.  Now  in  1800,  by  a  secret  treaty,  Spain 
ceded  Louisiana  to  France.  Just  what  Louisiana  was,  was 
uncertain,  but  it  certainly  included  New  Orleans  and  a  vast 
territory  to  the  west.  Not  for  some  time  was  this  secret 
transfer  discovered,  but  when  it  was  found  out  it  was  time  to 
act.  Spain  in  this  point  of  advantage  was  bad  enough,  but 
France  would  never  do;  she  was  too  enterprising  and  too  strong. 
To  make  matters  worse,  the  Spanish  authorities  at  New  Orleans 
deprived  the  Americans  of  the  right  they  had  had  of  depositing 
their  goods  there.  Something  had  to  be  done  or  the  West 
would  not  keep  the  peace. 

Jefferson  took  steps  to  purchase  New  Orleans  and  West 
Florida,  and  appointed  James  Monroe  a  special  envoy  for  that 
purpose.     Before    he    reached    Paris,  Talleyrand 
The  Treaty.        suggested  to  Livingston,  the  resident     minister, 
the  possibility  of  a  great  bargain,  and  after  Mon 
roe's  arrival  a  treaty  was  signed  whereby  France  sold  Louisi 
ana  to  the  United  States  for  about  $15,000,000  (April,   1803). 
The   boundaries,   as   we   have    already   said,  were  indefinite. 
Napoleon  remarked,  with  his  customary  cunning,  that  if  an 
obscurity  did  not  exist  about  the  boundary  it  would  be  well 

1  Spain  insisted  for  many  years  after  1783  that  she  owned  the  territory 
as  far  north  as  the  northern  boundary  of  the  old  province  of  West  Florida, 
a  line  through  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo.  In  1795  it  was  agreed  that  the 
thirty-first  parallel  should  be  the  southern  limit  of  the  United  States  be 
tween  the  Mississippi  and  the  Appalachicola.  Spain  at  the  same  time 
granted  to  the  Americans  the  right  to  deposit  goods  at  New  Orleans  and  to 
export  them  without  paying  duty.  As  the  West  grew  in  population  the 
desire  increased  to  hold  the  mouths  of  the  streams  that  rose  in  American 
territory  and  flowed  southward  into  the  Gulf. 


232  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

to  make  one.  The  purchase  certainly  included  New  Orleans, 
and  so  much  of  the  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  as  lay 
north  of  the  old  Spanish  possessions,  and  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains;  in  other  words  it  was  the  western  half  of  the  Mis 
sissippi  Valley.1  The  United  States  claimed  West  Florida  also, 
but  probably  wrongfully.  •  It  was  taken  later,  however,  under 
claim  of  title  (1810-12). 

There  were  some  doubts  in  Jefferson's  mind  as  to  the  con 
stitutionality  of  purchasing  and  annexing  the  territory.     To 

do  so  was  certainly  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of 
of°annexation! y  strict  construction  of  the  Constitution  which  he 

had  advocated  when  in  opposition.  For  some  time, 
therefore,  he  insisted  in  his  consultations  with  his  friends  and 
advisers  that  the  purchase  be  sanctioned  by  an  amendment  tc 
the  Constitution.2  The  great  majority  of  the  Republican 
party,  however,  did  not  think  the  act  illegal.  The  Federalists, 
admitting  the  right  to  acquire  territory,  opposed  the  treaty  on 
the  ground  that  it  provided  for  the  admission  of  new  States 
from  the  territory  so  annexed;  they  did  not  like  to  see  the 
annexation  of  a  great  western  country  whose  inhabitants  were 
in  the  future  to  come  into  the  Union  on  terms  of  equality  with 
the  older  States.  Both  parties,  therefore,  agreed  that  the  United 
States  as  a  nation  could  acquire  territory;  they  differed  on  the 
question  of  the  nature  of  the  control  over  it. 

Thus  the  territory  of  the  United  States  was  more  than 
doubled.      Louisiana    contained   over    800,000    square    miles. 

It  was  part  of  the  great  Mississippi  Valley.     The 

heart  of  the  continent,  bound  together  by  rivers 

1  We  took  France's  title — Louisiana  with  the  extent  that  it  "has  in  the 
hands  of  Spain,  and  that  it  had  when  France  possessed  it,  and  such  as  it 
should  be  after  the  treaties  subsequently  entered  into  between  Spain  and 
other  States".    On  the  basis  of  these  words  we  laid  claim  to  Florida  as  far 
east  as  the  Perdido,  on  the  ground  that  Louisiana  in  the  hands  of  France 
had  extended  thus  far.    This,  it  must  be  said,  was  an  afterthought  on  Liv 
ingston's  part,  and  in  the  light  of  all  the  evidence  must  be  considered  an 
unjust  claim. 

2  The  right  to  annex  territory  was  afterward  upheld  by  the  Supreme 
Court.    Am.  Ins.  Co.  v.  Canter,  i  Peters,  511. 


INTERNAL  DEVELOPMENT 


233 


into  a  single  geographic  whole,  fell  to  the  new  republic.  Noth 
ing  else  could  be  done  so  likely  to  insure  perpetual  union. 
Geography  itself  taught  the  lesson  of  Unity;  the  great  western 
valley  with  its  innumerable  water  courses,  all  hurrying  to  the 
mighty  river  and  on  to  the  Gulf,  could  not  be  rent  asunder, 
and  when,  in  later  years,  there  was  an  attempt  to  take  the 
southern  portion  out  of  the  Union,  the  cry  was  strong  and  loud 
that  the  father  of  waters  must  roll  "unvexed  to  the  sea". 


Exploration 
of  Pike. 


ROUTES  OF  LEWIS  AND  CLARK  AND  PIKE 

The  great  West  was  an  unknown  wilderness.  Some  French 
explorers  years  before  had  crossed  the  plains,  but  little  or 
nothing  was  now  known  about  the  country.  In 
the  summer  of  1805  Lieutenant  Pike  made  a  jour 
ney  of  exploration  up  the  Mississippi  River.  He 
went  as  far  north  as  Leech  Lake,  and  notified  British  and  In 
dian  occupants  of  the  territory  that  they  were  under  American 
rule.  The  next  year  he  went  from  St.  Louis  to  the  West.  He 
penetrated  even  into  the  mountains  of  Colorado  and  New 
Mexico,  and  gave  his  name  to  Pike's  Peak  as  a  permanent 
monument  of  his  expedition.  In  1803  Jefferson,  eager  to  ascer 
tain  the  character  of  the  great  dominion  he  had  purchased, 
sent  out  Meriwether  Lewis  and  William  Clark  to  make  explor 


234  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

rations  in  the  far  West.1     They  made  their  way  tc  the  head 
waters  of  the  Missouri,  crossed  the  great  divide,  and  reached 

the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River,  and  there  they 
ciai*™  'saw  "  the  waves  like  small  mountains  rolling  out 

in  the  ocean".  They  had  reached  the  goal  of 
American  ambition.  The  journey  to  the  coast  and  return  re 
quired  more  than  two  years. 

These  Western   expeditions  were   evidences   of   American 
enterprise,  but  they  could  bring  very  little  immediate  result. 

American   skill   and   independent   thought   were 

The  steamboat.    ,        .       .          ,  ./  .  , 

beginning,  however,  to  show  themselves  in  other 
fields  than  exploration.  On  August  17,  1807,  Robert  Fulton 
put  'his  steamboat,  the  Clermont,  to  the  test.  Before  a  crowd 
of  onlookers  the  little  craft  slowly  made  its  way  at  the  rate  of 
four  miles  an  hour  against  the  current  of  the  Hudson  River. 
This  is  an  important  fact  in  our  history;  for,  if  the  steamboat 
was  at  first  an  object  of  idle  curiosity,  its  usefulness  was  soon 
demonstrated.  To  the  West  it  was  of  surpassing  importance; 
the  American  people  were  given  the  means  to  conquer  the 
continent  and  to  occupy  with  rapidity  the  vast  valley  which 
only  a  generation  or  two  before  had  been  occupied  by  a  few 
French  traders  and  uncivilized  red  men.  In  1811  a  steamboat 
was  built  at  Pittsburgh  and  began  the  descent  of  the  river  to 
New  Orleans;  in  1818  the  Walk-in-  the-  Water  made  a  voyage 
from  Buffalo  to  Detroit. 

The  western  people  were  already  multiplying  and  reaching 
out  to  occupy  the  river  valleys  of  the  interior.     Ohio,  admitted 

as  a  State  in  1803,  was  growing;  Kentucky  and 


Tennessee,   admitted  in   the  later  years  of   the 


and  t 

previous  century,  were  putting  on  the  appearance 

of  settled  communities.  But  the  work  of  settlement,  expansion 
and  progress  was  slow  in  comparison  with  the  movement  after 
the  steamboat  came  to  offer  its  aid.  Before  the  little  flat- 
bottomed  steamers  with  their  powerful  paddle-wheels  began  to 

1  Even  before  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana  Jefferson  had  taken  a  prac 
tical  interest  in  the  exploration  of  the  West. 


INTERNAL  DEVELOPMENT  235 

ply  the  western  rivers,  all  the  commerce  from  New  Orleans  to  the 
upper  country  was  carried  on  with  about  twenty  barges;  it 
took  a  keel-boat  from  thirty  to  forty  days  to  make  the  trip  from 
Louisville  to  New  Orleans,  and  about  ninety  days  to  come  back; 
the  sturdy  rivermen  pulled  and  poled  and  warped  the  heavy 
boat  against  the  swift  and  stubborn  current.  But  when  the 
steamer  came  into  use  the  trip  down  was  made  in  seven  days, 


EARLY  FLATBOAT  FROM  ST.  Louis  TO  NEW  ORLEANS,  TIME  FOUR  MONTHS 

and  the  trip  back  in  sixteen.  Soon  the  tributaries  to  the  Missis 
sippi  were  threaded;  boats  burning  the  wood  from  the  forest,  and 
vomiting  out  great  showers  of  sparks  and  cinders,  puffed  their 
way  along  these  watery  highways,  carrying  new  settlers  into 
the  great  interior  country  or  bearing  the  produce  of  the  farm 
and  plantation  on  to  the  market.1 

REFERENCES 

HART,  Contemporaries,  Volume  III,  pp.  367-376,  381-389;  HART, 
Formation  of  the  Union,  pp.  176-191;  WALKER,  The  Making  of  the 
Nation,  pp.  168-189,  203~2I3;  SCHOULER,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Chapter 
XII;  MORSE,  Thomas  Jefferson,  Chapters  XIII-XVI;  OILMAN, 
James  Monroe,  Chapter  IV;  ADAMS,  John  Randolph,  Chapters  IV-VII. 
Longer  accounts:  SCHOULER,  History  of  the  United  States,  Volume  II, 
49-150,  230-309;  McMASTER,  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States, 
Volume  II,  pp.  533-635,  Volume  III,  pp.  1-219,  459-528;  CHANNING, 
Jejfersonian  System,  Chapters  I-V,  VII,  XII. 

1  We  shall  see  something  more  of  this  western  growth  in  a  later  chapter. 
It  has  been  estimated  that  the  produce  from  the  Mississippi  Valley,  reach 
ing  New  Orleans  in  1830,  amounted  to  $26,000,000.  See  Turner,  Rise  of 
the  New  West,  ch.  v.  An  interesting  account  of  the  steamboat  will  be  found 
in  McMaster,  History  of  the  People  of  U.  S.,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  397-407;  H.  Adams, 
History,  Vol.  IV,  p.  135,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  167-172. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RIGHTS  UPON  THE  SEA 

We  have  already  seen  something  of  the  troubles  that  came 
to  America  when  war  broke  out  in  Europe  between  England  and 
France.  Washington,  we  remember,  decided  that  it  was  our 
business  to  stand  aloof  and  not  to  get  entangled  with  European 
affairs.  Jay's  treaty  in  1794  settled  our  misunderstanding  with 
England,  and  then  later,  while  Adams  was  President  and  when 
it  seemed  as  if  we  must  have  open  and  avowed  war  with  France, 
that  difficulty  was  patched  up,1  and  we  continued  to  live  in 
peace.  But,  as  long  as  Europe  was  rent  with  strife,  we  were  in 
danger;  and  soon  after  Jefferson  came  to  the  Presidency  new 
clouds  appeared  on  the  horizon.  In  truth,  as  we  shall  see,  all 
through  these  early  years  of  the  century,  while  America  was 
expanding  and  building  up,  while  the  people  were  moving  into 
the  western  country  and  building  homes  in  the  great  valley, 
the  relations  with  foreign  nations  were  full  of  peril.  We  shall 
now  have  to  see  how  Jefferson  and  his  successor  in  office,  lovers 
of  peace  and  hopeful  of  American  democracy,  sought  to  meet 
these  dangers. 

England  and  France,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  begun  to 
fight  in  1793,  and  the  contest  was  still  waging.  There  had 
been  a  troubled  peace  for  about  a  year  after  the 
ar.  treaty  of  Amiens  (1802),  but  now  the  war  was 
being  carried  on  with  renewed  vehemence.  The 
English  felt  that  their  safety  and  independence  as  a  nation 
were  at  stake.  They  were  desperately  in  earnest.  Napo 
leon's  victorious  career  on  the  Continent  had  given  rise  to 
fears  that  he  would  establish  a  European  empire  and  crush  all 
that  were  not  submissive  to  his  will.  He  hated  with  a  profound 

1  Treaty  with  France  in  1800. 
236 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RIGHTS  UPON  THE  SEA    237 

hatred  the  little  island  that  stood  doggedly  in  the  way  of  his 
lawless  ambitions.  Neither  nation  was  in  a  mood  to  consider 
the  rights  of  a  neutral  state.  Each  sought  to  make  the  most 
out  of  America,  the  young  republic,  whose  power  was  not 
dreaded,  and  who  seemed  by  her  carrying  trade  to  be  the  only 
nation  profiting  by  the  war. 

In  1805  England  decided  that,  contrary  to  her  previous 

policy,  goods  from  the  French  colonies  transported  in  American 

ships  could  be  seized,  even  though  they  had  been 

Aggression  upon  landed    in    the    United    States    and    reshipped.1 

American  ,-„,  .  'it  \  • 

commerce.  This  was  a  serious  blow  to  American  commerce, 
which  had  been  thriving  in  this  very  trade.  In  the 
same  year  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  was  won  by  Nelson;  England 
was  henceforth  mistress  of  the  seas.  She  used  her  power  arro 
gantly.  British  men-of-war  were  actually  stationed  just  outside 
New  York  harbor  to  intercept  American  merchant  vessels,  search 
them,  and  impress  their  seamen.  The  domineering  spirit  of  the 
British  commanders  increased  the  annoyance  and  mortification 
_  arising  from  such  treatment.  Hundreds  of  sailors 

Impressment.  °  .  . 

were  thus  in  a  single  year  taken  from  American 
vessels  and  forced  to  fight  the  battles  of  England.  The  ground 
of  seizure  was  that  these  men  were  Englishmen  born,  and  Eng 
land's  assertion  was  "Once  an  Englishman,  always  an  English 
man".  It  must  be  noticed  that  that  country  was  not  unique 
in  holding  that  a  man  could  not  give  up  allegiance  to  his  native 
land  and  become  the  citizen  of  another.  Other  nations  held  the 
same  doctrine.  But  in  practice  England  enforced  her  claims 
Arrogantly,  seized  native-born  Americans  as  well  as  Englishmen, 
and  disdainfully  treated  American  commerce  as  if  the  flag  at 
the  masthead  of  a  vessel  offered  no  security  from  insult  and 
annoyance.  It  wasfl  plain  enough  that,  much  as  the  Jefferso- 
nians  loved  peace,  the  United  States  must  soon  fight  in  defence 
of  its  self-respect. 

The   crowning   act  of  insolence   occurred  in    1807.    The 
American  frigate   Chesapeake  was   overtaken   not  far  from 

1  This  subject  is  very  clearly  treated  in  Charming,  The  United  States 
of  America,  pp.  174-180. 


238  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Hampton  Roads  by  the  British  frigate  Leopard,  and  the  Brit 
ish  commander  demanded  the  surrender  of  several  seamen 
serving  on  the  Chesapeake,  whom  he  claimed  to 
be  deserters  from  the  British  service.  When 
this  demand  was  not  acceded  to,  the  Leop 
ard,  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred 
feet,  poured  her  whole  broadside  into  the  American  vessel.  The 
Chesapeake  was  unprepared  for  action.  She  received  three 
broadsides  without  being  able  to  answer  in  kind,  and  then 
struck  her  flag  and  surrendered.  Three  men  were  killed  and 
eighteen  wounded.  The  alleged  deserters  were  taken  aboard 
the  Leopard.  Three  of  them  were  Americans,  one  of  the  three 
being  a  negro.  Perhaps  the  most  exasperating  thing  about  this 
whole  affair  was  the  presumption  shown  in  attacking  a  frigate 
that  was,  if  given  a  fighting  chance,  a  fair  match  for  the  Leopard. 
But  the  English  did  not  stop  to  consider  that  an  American 
frigate  could  fight.  Within  a  few  years  they  learned  their 
mistake.  This  outrage  nearly  brought  on  war  at  once,  and  it 
probably  would  have  been  as  well  if  that  had  been  the  result, 
for  it  was  high  time  that  either  France  or  England  came  to  see 
that  the  United  States  could  defend  herself.  And  yet  one 
must  strongly  sympathize  with  Jefferson  and  his  advisers,  who 
loathed  the  barbarity  of  war,  and  believed  that  self-interest  and 
common  sense  should  win  all  nations  to  peace.  Unfortunately, 
the  times  were  not  suited  for  such  humane  ideas.  Nearly  the 
whole  civilized  world  was  rent  with  strife. 

Through  these  years  France  injured  American  commerce 

and  lost  no  opportunity  to  gain  by  plunder.     England,  indeed, 

made  some  pretence  of  having  legal  justification  for 

English  orders     j^  conduct ;  but  Napoleon  did  not  seem  to  need  any 

and  French  f          7    .      .        \ ,  .  .    J 

decrees.  excuse  for  ordering  the  seizura  and  condemnation 

of  vessels.  Jefferson,  in  a  moment  of  exasperation, 
said  that  England  had  become  a  den  of  pirates  and  France  a  den 
of  thieves.  Napoleon  and  the  English  Government  vied  with 
each  other  in  issuing  proclamations  that  would  prevent  the  free 
course  of  neutral  trade  (1806-7).  England  issued  two  Orders 
in  Council  which  went  to  the  extent  of  declaring  a  blockade  of 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RIGHTS  UPON  THE  SEA    239 

nearly  the  whole  coast  of  Europe.  This  was  to  a  great  extent 
a  mere  " paper  blockade" — an  announcement  without  sufficient 
power  to  make  it  effective.1  But  the  French  emp'eror  answered 
with  two  announcements  that  were  even  more  "papery".  He 
issued  two  "decrees" — the  Berlin  and  Milan  Decrees — the 
former  declaring  that  the  British  Islands  were  in  a  state  of 
blockade,  the  latter  declaring  that  any  American  ship  sub 
mitting  to  search  by  an  English  vessel  was  lawful  prize  for 
French  cruisers.  So  here  was  the  humiliating  situation — on 
the  one  hand  an  American  ship  might  refuse  to  be  searched 
and  in  consequence  be  blown  out  of  the  water  by  an  English 
frigate,  or  she  might  submit  to  the  indignity;  on  the  other  hand, 
if  she  should  submit,  she  was  in  danger  of  becoming  the  prize  of 
a  French  man-of-war  or  of  being  seized  in  any  Continental  har 
bor  subject  to  French  power. 

Efforts  were  made  to  bring  England  to  terms  by  some 
means  short  of  war.  December,  1806,  Monroe  and  William 

Pinkney,  in  London,  negotiated  a  treaty,  but 
treaty10'  Jefferson  refused  to  -accept  it  as  satisfactory. 

He  ought  either  to  have  accepted  it  or  to  have 
prepared  seriously  for  war.  He  did  neither.  At  the  end 
of  1807  Congress,  on  his  recommendation,  passed  an  embargo 

act,  closing  all  the  American  harbors  to  commerce. 

This  act  was  in  force  for  over  a  year.  It  solved 
none  of  the  difficulties  under  which  the  country  was  suffering. 
The  vessels  lay  idle  at  the  wharves,  men  were  thrown  out  of 
work,  foreign  trade  was  abruptly  stopped,  and  home  trade  was 
checked.  The  products  of  Ihe  Southern  plantations  could 

not  be  transported.     The  interests  of  all  sections 

of  the  country  were  injured.  Perhaps  New 
England  was  hurt  least  of  all,  because  the  inventive  Yankee  now 
turned  his  attention  to  manufacturing  and  made  money, 
because  foreign  goods  could  not  be  imported.  The  Northern 
people  were,  however,  bitterly  incensed  against  the  policy 

1  A  real  blockade  may  not  keep  out  an  occasional  "blockade  runner"; 
but  it  is  now  the  rule  that  it  must  be  more  than  an  announcement;  the 
harbors  must  be  really  blockaded. 


240 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Non- 
intercourse. 


which  seemed,  under  the  guise  of  protection,  to  be  destroying 
their  commerce.  England  was  doubtless  somewhat  injured, 
but  not  enough  to  induce  her  to  revoke  her  orders.  Napoleon 
confiscated  American  vessels  in  the  ports  of  Europe,  claiming 

that  he  was  in  all  kindness  enforcing  the  embargo. 

Thus  the  plan  broke  down.     The  embargo  act 

was  repealed  in  the  spring  of  1809,  and  the  non- 
intercourse  act  was  passed,  making  all  commerce  with  Great 
Britain,  France,  and  their  dependencies  illegal,  but  restoring 
trade  with  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Jefferson  left  office  in  1 809 .   His 
long  effort  to  avoid  war  and  to  win 

respect  for  American 

Madison  as          rights    upon    tne     sea 
President,  ,  . 

1809-1817.  by  the  embargo,  his 
scheme  of  peaceful 
coercion,  seemed  profitless;  war  had 
thus  far  been  avoided,  but  condi 
tions  were  even  more  perplexing 
than  before.  James  Madison  and 
George  Clinton  were  chosen  as 
President  and  Vice-President  in 
1808,  and  on  the  shoulders  of  Madi 
son  fell  the  burdens  of  solving,  if  he 
could,  the  trying  problems  of  the 
time.  He  had  long  been  one  of 
Jefferson's  chief  advisers  and  he 

too  hoped  that  the  perils  and  losses  of  war  might  be  escaped ; 
he  too  longed  to  find  some  peaceful  way  out  of  the  difficulties 
which  beset  the  nation,  and  he  did  not  yet  despair.1 


1  Madison  was  in  many  ways  a  great  man.  He  had  taken  a  leading 
part  in  the  formation  of  the  Constitution  and  won  the  title  of  the  "  Father 
of  the  Constitution"  by  his  work  in  the  convention  of  1787.  He  was  a 
thoughtful,  scholarly  man,  a  student  of  political  theory.  As  a  Virginian 
and  a  follower  of  Jefferson,  he  was  one  of  the  men  who  believed  profoundly 
in  the  principles  of  Jeffersonian  politics.  He  was  not  a  stern,  unrelent 
ing  administrator  and  perhaps  the  times  demanded  a  man  of  more  iron  will; 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RIGHTS  UPON  THE  SEA    241 

Madison's  administration  began  brilliantly.  An  agreement 
was  reached  with  the  English  minister,  Erskine,  resident  at 
Washington,  that  the  Orders  in  Council  should  be 
withdrawn.  The  country  was  elated,  but  doomed 
to  a  speedy  disappointment.  The  English  Gov 
ernment  repudiated  the  action  of  its  minister,  and  Madison  was 
even  accused  of  having  taken  advantage  of  Erskine's  youth  and 
inexperience  to  cajole  him  into  an  unauthorized  agreement. 
Erskine  was  recalled  and  conditions  were  worse  than  ever,  for 
his  successor,  a  man  named  Jackson,  was  so  impertinent  in  his 
insinuations  of  bad  faith  on  Madison's  part  that  he  was  informed 
that  our  Government  would  receive  no  communication  from  him. 
Matters  were  now  indeed  hurrying  to  a  catastrophe.  France 
and  England  were  so  utterly  brutal  in  their  attacks  upon 
American  commerce  that  they  both  deserved  a 
whipping;  but  as  it  was  impossible  to  fight  both, 
one  of  them  should  have  been  chosen  for  an  ally 
without  more  delay.  In  18 10  (March  23)  Napoleon  issued  a 
decree,  ordering  the  seizure  of  all  American  vessels  that,  since 
the  non-intercourse  policy  was  adopted,  had  entered  the  ports  of 
France  or  of  any  other  country  occupied  by  the  French.  As  a 
result,  scores  of  vessels  worth  many  thousands  of  dollars  were 
confiscated,  and  the  money  was  poured  into  Napoleon's  treasury. 
It  was  a  shameful  piece  of  thieving,  but  by  no  means  the  only 
one  of  which  Napoleon  was  guilty.  However  objectionable  war 
might  be,  American  property  might  better  have  been  used  in  de 
fence  of  American  rights  than  stolen  by  the  Emperor  of  the 
French  to  help  on  his  career  of  glory  and  carnage. 

Soon  after  the  issue  of  this  infamous  decree  the  American 

Congress  passed  a  bill  known  as  the  Macon  Bill  No.  2  (May  i, 

1810).     This  provided  that  non-intercourse  should 

America  gives     ke  abandoned,  but  that  if  either  of  the  offending  na- 

opTo°rtu°nityn       tions  should  "  so  revoke  or  modify  her  edicts  as  that 

they  shall  cease  to  violate  the  neutral  commerce  of 

the  United  States  ",  then  intercourse  with  the  other  nation  should 

but  he  was  high-minded  and  able.    He  retained  Gallatin  as  his  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  in  1811  James  Monroe  became  Secretary  of  Otate. 


242  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

be  prohibited.  Napoleon,  cunning  and  dishonest,  was  ready  to 
take  the  advantage  thus  offered  him.  The  French  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs  wrote  to  the  American  minister  in  Paris: 
"His  Majesty  loves  the  Americans.  Their  property  and  their 
commerce  are  within  the  scope  of  his  policy".  This  surprising 
announcement  was  coupled  with  the  statement  that  after 
November  first  the  obnoxious  decrees  would  not  be  enforced, 
but  that,  on  the  other  hand,  England  must  do  likewise  and 
renounce  her  "  new  principle  of  blockade",  or  that  the  United 
States  should  "cause  their  rights  to  be  respected  by  the  Eng 
lish".  l  So  Napoleon,  by  taking  advantage  of  the  Macon  Bill 
No.  2,  by  a  little  distortion  of  its  language  entered,  as  it  were, 
into  a  contract  with  the  United  States.  He  is  said  to  have 

remarked  a  few  days  later,  "It  is  evident  that  we 
advantage  of  it  comnu't  ourselves  to  nothing  ".  As  a  matter  of 

fact,  he  continued  to  confiscate  the  American 
cargoes  and  vessels  as  before.  Late  in  1810,  however,  Madison 
accepted  this  statement  of  the  French  Government,  and  on 
March  2,  1811,  Congress  passed  an  act  reestablishing  non- 
intercourse  with  Great  Britain. 

During  1811  the  sky  did  not  brighten  much.  The  United 
States  was  still  spitefully  ill-used  by  the  combatants  and  still 

restlessly  held  its  peace.  England  now  offered 
^g8^1  to  make  reparation  for  the  Chesapeake  outrage, 

and  the  offer  was  accepted;  but  this  did  not  seem 
to  heal  many  wounds  or  bring  much  consolation.  About  the 
same  time  a  similar  affair  occurred  between  the  English  man-of- 
war  Little  Belt  and  the  American  frigate  President,  but  this 
time  the  English  man-of-war  was  shattered  and  crippled, 
and  America  was  filled  with  elation  because  at  least  one  British 

1  The  important  clause  in  the  letter  is  as  follows:  "I  am  authorized  to 
declare  to  you  that  the  decrees  of  Berlin  and  Milan  are  revoked,  and  that 
after  November  ist  they  will  cease  to  have  effect,  on  the  understanding 
that,  in  consequence  of  this  declaration,  .  .  .  the  United  States  .  .  .  shall 
cause  their  rights  to  be  respected  by  the  English".  It  is  plain  that  by 
accepting  such  a  revocation  Madison  in  a  way  bound  the  United  States  to 
compel  England  to  cease  her  violations  of  our  commerce. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RIGHTS  UPON  THE  SEA    243 

sea  captain  had  been  taught  a  lesson.  To  England,  however, 
one  lesson  was  not  enough,  for,  proud  in  her  strength  upon  the 
sea,  she  continued  to  assert  her  right  to  search  American 
vessels  and  impress  seamen  for  her  service.  Doubtless  some  of 
these  men  were  deserters  from  British  vessels,  and  England 
needed  every  man  in  the  great  death  struggle  with  France,  but 
the  method  of  using  her  power  was  exasperating  in  the  extreme. 
For  some  time  the  Indians  on  the  western  frontier  had  been 
in  a  restless  and  dangerous  mood.  Tecumthe — or  Tecumseh, 

as  he  is  generally  called — a  Shawnee  chief  of  great 
Tippecaaoe,  ability,  had  entered  upon  the  task  of  organizing 
November,  the  red  men  into  a  vast  confederacy  to  resist  the 

encroachments  of  the  whites.  The  truth  seems 
to  be  that,  although  the  English  did  not  directly  encourage 
hostilities,  they  had  made  preparations  to  use  the  Indians  in 
case  of  war.  With  Tecumseh,  in  his  effort  to  arouse  the 
braves,  was  his  brother  the  "Prophet",  who,  not  so  wise  or 
cautious  as  Tecumseh,  brought  on  a  war  with  the  Americans 
in  the  autumn  of  1811.  The  white  troops  were  commanded 
by  General  William  Henry  Harrison,  and  they  defeated  the 
Indians  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe,  fought  (November  yth) 
near  where  the  creek  of  that  name  falls  into  the  Wabash,  in  the 
western  part  of  the  State  of  Indiana  Tecumseh  joined  the 
English  army  the  next  year. 

At  this  time  a  new  element  showed  itself  in  the  Republican 
party,  a  new  element  in  directing  public  affairs.     Younger  men 

from  the  South  and  West  came  to  positions  of 

The  young  ^  -i 

Republicans.  prominence  in  Congress,  men  whose  names  we 
shall  see  over  and  over  again  as  we  read  the 
history  of  the  nation.  Henry  Clay,  of  Kentucky,  a  young 
man  barely  thirty-four  years  of  age,  a  representative  of  the 
new  West,  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House.  He  was  elo 
quent,  fervid,  and  full  of  zeal  for  American  dignity  and  honor. 
He  represented  a  new  generation  in  American  politics,  a  genera 
tion  which  had  arisen  since  the  Revolution  and  had  none  of  the 
old  feeling  of  colonialism  or  of  inferiority  to  foreign  powers,  a 
generation  of  men  who  were  intensely  American.  He  repre- 


244  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

sented  too  the  ambitious,  impetuous  West,  where  it  was  custom 
ary  to  resent  insult  on  the  moment  and  to  fight  lustily  on  occa 
sion.  There  were  others  that  stood  beside  him,  not  minded  to 
accept  England's  buffets  with  smiling  face  or  dally  with  fruitless 
negotiation  or  endless  discussion.  Among  them  was  John  C. 
Calhoun,  then  a  man  of  less  than  thirty  years,  keen,  able,  alert, 
and  eloquent.  This  young  and  vigorous  element  of  tjie  party 
prepared  for  war.  Clay  organized  the  committees  of  the  House 
on  an  aggressive  basis,  giving  Calhoun  a  place  on  the  Committee 
of  Foreign  Affairs,  where  his  abil 
ity  and  vigor  made  him  its  lead 
ing  member  and  the  director  of  its 
policy.1  . 

The  election  of   Clay  to  the 
speakership  is  of  moment  for  sev 
eral     reasons,     not 


said,  because  he  rep 
resented  a  new,  virile  element  in 
the  party  and  came  from  a  new, 
energetic  section  of  the  country, 
but  also  because  he  was  the  first 
Speaker  to  make  use  of  his  posi 
tion  materially  to  influence  legis 
lation.  He  was  therefore  the  first 
of  modern  speakers;  for  from  that 
time  the  power  of  the  Speaker's 
office  developed  so  strongly  along 
the  lines  that  Clay  marked  out  that  it  can  now  be  justly  called  at 
least  second  in  importance  and  power  in  the  Government. 
"The  natural  leader  of  that  moment  was  Henry  Clay",  says  one 
writer.  "That  the  place  he  was  given  from  which  to  lead  the 
country  was  the  chair  of  the  House  of  Representatives  is  a  fact 


1  Daniel  Webster  entered  Congress  in  1813.  Clay,  with  his  usual  sagac 
ity,  put  Webster  at  once  on  the  Foreign  Affairs  Committee.  From  this 
time  on  for  forty  years  he  was  a  conspicuous  figure  in  American  life. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RIGHTS  UPON  THE  SEA    245 

of  great  significance.  .  .  .  Henry  Clay  was  elected  more  than 
any  other  Speaker  as  leader  of  the  House".1  John  Randolph 
summed  up  the  situation  in  1812  in  a  telling  question:  "After 
you  have  raised  these  25,000  men,  shall  we  form  a  committee  of 
public  safety  to  carry  on  the  war,  or  shall  we  depute  the  po  vver 
to  the  Speaker?  Shall  we  declare  that,  the  Executive  not  being 
capable  of  discerning  the  public  interest  or  not  having  spirit 
enough  to  pursue  it,  we  have  appointed  a  committee  to  take  the 
President  and  Cabinet  into  custody"?  The  question  is,  like 
many  of  Randolph's  utterances,  extravagant,  but  its  irony  dis 
closes  an  interesting  situation. 

For  twenty  years  France  had  been  treating  the  United 
States  shamefully.  But  rarely,  if  ever,  had  a  French  frigate 
impressed  American  seamen  on  the  ground  that 
tkey  were  Frenchmen,  while  England  resorted 
boldly  to  this  practice  and  replenished  her  crews 
from  the  crews  of  our  merchantmen.  Moreover,  Napoleon  had 
taken  the  opportunity  offered  by  the  Macon  Bill  No.  2,  and  by 
cunning  and  deceit  had  put  the  United  States  at  a  disadvantage. 
Added  to  this  was  the  fact  that  the  Republicans,  in  control  of 
the  Government,  were  favorable  to  France  and  opposed  to 
England.  Coming,  as  many  of  them  did,  from  the  South  and 
West,  they  did  not  fear  the  ravages  of  the  English  navy,  because 
they  had  no  commerce  to  be  destroyed.  So  the  United  States 
finally  drifted  into  a  war  with  England  and  took  up  arms  as  the 
ally  of  Napoleon.  Could  there  be  stranger  companions  in  arms 
than  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  James  Madison? 

The  young,  ambitious  Republicans,  who  were  largely 
responsible  for  the  war,  hoped  not  only  to  make  England  respect 
our  flag,  but  to  seize  Canada  and  to  dictate,  as  they  said,  an 
honorable  peace  at  Halifax.  They  were  -filled  with  zeal  for 
showing  American  prowess.  So  Madison  finally  yielded  to  the 
impulses  of  a  large  portion  of  his  party — timidly  and  reluctantly 
yielded,  one  must  believe,  for  to  fight  at  last  seemed  like  casting 
a  slur  on  the  years  through  which  he  and  Jefferson  had  strug- 

1  Follett,  The  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  p.  71. 
V 


246 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


gled  to  avoid  war,  and  had  sought  to  find  some  peaceable  method 
of  coercion.  Avoidance  of  war  seemed  now  impossible,  and 
Madison  yielded  to  the  inevitable.  June  i,  1812,  he  sent  to 
Congress  a  message  recounting  British  aggressions  on  our  rights. 
On  the  1 8th  Congress  declared  war.  On  the  i6th  of  this  same 
month  the  English  ministry  announced  in  the  House  of  Com 
mons  that  the  Orders  in  Council  were  to  be  withdrawn,  and  a 
few  days  later  they  were  formally  revoked.  Had  there  been  an 
Atlantic  cable  in  1812  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  war  would  have 
been  averted. 


Election  of 

1812. 


FIELD  OF  THE  CAMPAIGNS  IN  THE  WEST,  WAR  OF  1812 

Madison  was  probably  more  willing  to  acquiesce  in  the 
notion  that  war  was  necessary,  because  a  campaign  for  the 
presidency  was  near  and  the  young  Republicans 
demanded  an  attitude  of  hostility  toward  England. 
However  that  may  be,  he  was  put  forward  and 
elected,  and  with  him  Elbridge  Gerry  as  Vice-President.  And 
thus  there  fell  upon  his  shoulders  the  unwelcome,  ill-fitting  task 
of  leading  in  war — few  men  were  ever  less  fitted  for  the  job  of 
leading  and  inspiring  a  loosely  knit  democracy,  which  did  not 
know  its  own  strength  or  how  to  use  it. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RIGHTS  UPON  THE  SEA     247 

The  United  States  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  had  a  popula 
tion  of  about  eight  millions.     Great  Britain  and  Ireland  had 

a  population  of  nearly  twenty  millions,  had  for 
combatants.  a  ^onS  ^me  ^een  exPending  blood  and  treasure 

lavishly  in  the  mortal  conflict  with  Napoleon, 
and  was  now  nerved  to  great  effort.  The  United  States  en 
tered  the  conflict  divided.  There  was  not  a  universal  sentiment 

that  war  was  necessary.     The  North  and  East 

wcre  *ke  sections  which  had  suffered  the  most  from 

the  depredations  inflicted  by  England  on  American 
commerce,  yet  many  of  the  people  of  New  England  preferred  to 
bear  the  ills  they  had  rather  than  to  fly  to  the  heavier  if  more 
honorable  losses  of  war.  If  the  choice  must  be  made,  they  pre 
ferred  a  war  with  France,  in  order  that  England  might  be  an 
ally  and  not  an  enemy,  and  that  her  fleet  might  not  harry  their 
coast  and  destroy  their  commerce.  But  if  they  must  fight 
against  the  mistress  of  the  seas,  they  desired  that  the  navy  be 
strengthened  and  given  every  help.  Because  of  these'different 
opinions  the  country  was  weaker  than  it  should  have  been,  and 
suffered  disasters  that  might  have  been  avoided  had  there  been 
a  common  front  against  a  common  enemy. 

It  was  apparent  at  the  outset  that  the  Northwest  must  be 
protected.     Some  time  before  the  formal  declaration  of  war 

General  William  Hull  was  sent  with  a  force  from 
Northte?^  ohio  to  the  defence  of  Detroit.  War  was  declared 

while  he  was  on  the  way.  The  British  were  posted 
at  Maiden.  Hull,  after  some  disasters,  arrived  in  Detroit,  and 
soon  passed  over  into  Canada,  pompously  calling  upon  the 
Canadians  to  seek  freedom  from  oppression  under  the  American 
standard.  But  his  position  was  perilous  and  he  soon  returned  to 
Detroit  and  found  himself  in  trouble.  His  lines  of  communica 
tion  with  Ohio  were  broken,  and  on  August  i6th  he  surrendered 

Detroit  to  the  enemy.  Mackinaw  had  already  fall- 
Detroit  en  an(j  j.ne  in(iians  soon  destroyed  Fort  Dearborn, 

surrendered,  -  ._,  .  ,          ._  ...   .  . 

August,  1812.      where  Chicago  now  stands.     Michigan  was  in  the 

hands  of  the.  enemy,  and  the  whole  Northwest  in 

danger.    The  Indians,  under  the  leadership  of  Tecumseh,  a  war- 


248 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


rior  of  rare  vigor  and  ability,  aided  the  British  in  these  western 
campaigns.  The  people  of  Michigan  Territory  remained  in 
terror  of  the  Indians  throughout  the  war. 

Little  was  done  in  the  East  during  this  first  summer  of  the 
war.  There  was  fighting  on  the  Niagara  frontier  l  -but  on  the 
whole  the  campaign  was  a  dismal  failure,  as  far  as  the  land 
battles  were  concerned. 


THE  CONSTITUTION 
From  an  old  cut 

On  the  sea,  however,  matters  had  taken  a  different  turn. 
Our  navy  was  small,  but  some  of  the  vessels  were  good,  and 
officers  and  men  had  received  excellent  training 
in  seamanship.  The  United  Steles  frigatt  Con 
stitution,  under  command  oi  Commodore  Isaac 
Hull,  fought  and  captured  the  English  frigate  Guerriere.  "In 
less  than  thirty  minutes  from  the  time  we  got  alongside  of  the 
enemy",  reported  Hull,  "she  was  left  without  a  spar  standing, 

1  Battle  of  Queens  town,  October  i3th. 


Victories  on 
the  ocean. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RIGHTS  UPON  THE  SEA    249 

and  the  hull  cut  to  pieces  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make  it  difficult 
to  keep  her  above  water".  She  was  so  badly  damaged  that  the 
victors  destroyed  her.  This  was  a  momentous  victory.  "It 
raised  the  United  States  in  one  half  hour  to  the  rank  of  a  first- 
class  power". 1 

Other  victories  followed  quickly  and  the  people  ot"  the 
whole  country  were  jubilant,  especially  the  New  Englanders, 
who  had  long  boasted  that  "the  wooden  walls  of.  Columbia" 
would  prove  the  nation's  best  defence.  It  was  apparent  that 
Great  Britain  had  found  a  rival  on  the  ocean,  and  this  at  a  time 
when  a  succession  of  victories  in  the  Napoleonic  wars  had  made 
England  the  mistress  of  the  seas.  America  could  not  equal  the 
enemy  in  strength,  for  the  English  navy  was  very  large  and 
powerful ;  but  when  vessels  met  on  anything  like  even  terms  the 
Americans  showed  themselves  at  least  the  equals  of  the  English 
in  gunnery,  and  often  their  superiors  in  seamanship. 

The  campaign  of  1813  began  in  discouragement.     In  Jan 
uary  a  company  of  brave  Kentuckians,  who  had  volunteered  to 
retake  Detroit  and  to  wipe  out  the  disgrace  of  Hull's 
surrender,  were  attacked  and  beaten  at  the  River 
Raisin,  in  Michigan.     In  the  course  of  the  year 
however  the  tide  turned  in  our  direction.2    To  control  the  In 
dians  and  protect  the  frontier,  Detroit  must  be  secured;   to 
do  this  with  safety  Lake  Erie  must  be  in  our  control.     Near 
the  western  end  of  the  Lake   an  American  fleet 

Erie^sepfember under  the  command  of  Commodore  Perry  met 
14, 1813,  and  defeated  a  British  fleet  commanded  by  Com 

modore   Barclay.     The    battle   was   picturesque. 

1  Henry  Adams,  History  of  the  United  States,  vol.  vi,  p.  375.     This 
means  that,  although  England  and  France  might  treat  America  sharply 
and  although  America  might  long  remain  weak  in  comparison  with  the 
great  nations  of  Europe,  hereafter  no  nation  could  treat  the  United  States 
as  if  it  were  an  insignificant,  third-class  power  which  could  only  whine 
when  it  was  punished. 

2  Fort  Meigs,  on  the  Maumee,  commanded  by  Harrison,  was  attacked 
by  the  British  in  May.     It  was  bravely  defended,  and  the  enemy  was 
forced  to  retreat.    This  defeat  cost  the  British  the  confidence  and  suppor^ 
of  many  of  the  Indians. 


250 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Perry  had  to  leave  his  flagship,  the  Lawrence,  during  the 
engagement  and  row  to  another  vessel.  He  finally  conquered, 
and  his  announcement  of  the  victory  has  become  famous:  "We 

have  met  the  enemy  and  they  are  ours.  Two  ships, 
and  of  the  j-wo  brigs,  one  schooner,  and  one  sloop".  Harrison, 
October'  5, 1813.  with  the  aid  of  the  fleet,  passed  to  Detroit,  whence 

he  followed  the  retreating  enemy  into  Canada  and 
defeated  them  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  October  5,  1813, 
where  Tecumseh  was  killed. 


FIELD  OF  THE  CAMPAIGNS  IN  THE  NORTH  AND  EAST,  WAR  OF  1812 

In  the  East  as  well  as  the  West  there  were  some  victories 
for  the  Americans.     General  Dearborn  decided  upon  an  expe 
dition   to   York    (now    Toronto).     A    successful 
East"^!111      attack  was  made  upon  the  place  and  it  was  taken 
and  destroyed.    Later  in  the  summer,  Fort  George, 
on  the  Niagara  River,  passed  into  our  hands,  the  result  of 
a  fierce   assault  led  by  Lieutenant-Colonel   Winfield   Scott, 
who  distinguished  himself  for  gallantry.     Late  in  the  autumn 
an  unsuccessful  expedition  was  set  on  foot  against  Montreal, 
and  in   December   Fort   George   was  abandoned.     In  other 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RIGHTS  UPON  THE  SEA    251 

words,  at  the  end  of  the  second  year  of  the  war  the  situation 
on  the  northern  boundary,  except  at  Detroit,  was  much  as 
at  the  beginning.  The  campaign  had  been  managed  with  no 
energy  and  with  little  show  of  generalship. 

On  the  ocean  there  were  victories  and  defeats  for  the 

ambitious  little  navy.    In  February  of  this  same  year  the 

American  Hornet  fought  and  sunk  the  Peacock, 

On  the  ocean.  .  .  ' 

the  British  brig  Pelican  captured  the  Argus,  and 
the  American  brig  Enterprise  defeated  the  Boxer.  The  most 
noteworthy  contest  was  that  between  the  American  frigate 
Chesapeake  and  the  Shannon.  The  former  was  commanded 
by  Captain  Lawrence,  who  was  anxious  to  meet  the  Shannon 
and  accept  a  challenge  publicly  offered  by  the  English  comman 
der.  The  engagement  lasted  but  a  few  minutes,  ending  in  a 
complete  victory  for  the  English  vessel.  Captain  Lawrence 
was  killed.  The  event  caused  great  sadness  in  America,  but 
the  rejoicing  in  England  was  substantial  proof  that  the  defeat 
of  a  Yankee  frigate  was  no  longer  considered  a  foregone  con 
clusion. 

During  the  summer  of  this  year  and  the  winter  of  1814 
there  was  some  sharp  fighting  with  the  Indians  in  the  South. 

General  Jackson  was  finally  victorious  over  them 
Southwest.  in  a  bloody  battle  at  the  Horseshoe,  a  great  bend 

in  the  Tallapoosa  River.  This  campaign  under 
Jackson's  energetic  leadership  destroyed  the  power  of  the 
Indians  in  that  section.  Many  of  them  fled  into  Spanish  terri 
tory,  and  in  later  years  caused  the  United  States  much  trouble. 
The  year  1814  was  hardly  more  cheering  than  the  previous 
one.  General  Wilkinson,  in  the  Champlain  region,  began  the 

campaign  by  an  example  of  inefficiency,  and  the 
battles11 1814  summer  bade  fair  to  be  disastrous.  English  vessels 

hovered  along  our  coast,  ready  to  pounce  upon 
any  merchantmen  that  ventured  to  steal  out  of  harbor,  and 
the  apparent  defeat  of  Napoleon  in  Europe  gave  opportu 
nity  to  send  over  to  America  some  of  the  veterans  of  that  long 
contest.  On  the  Niagara  frontier  our  troops  under  General 
Brown,  an  able  man,  fought  with  great  gallantry.  The  battles 


252 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


of  Chippewa  and  Lundy's  Lane  were  victories  for  the  Americans, 
where  Scott  again  distinguished  himself.  These  successful  en 
gagements  gave  us  a  slight  hold  on  Canada,  but  in  the  autumn 
the  American  troops  were  withdrawn  to  the  New  York  side  ot 
the  river,  and  the  year  ended  with  nothing  accomplished  in  that 
quarter. 

A  victory  on  Lake  Champlain  gave  some  encouragement. 

The  British  with  a  large  force  were  intending  an  invasion  of 

New  York  by  the  old  route,  by  the  way  of  Lake 

Battle  of  Lake  *  •«'."«  i 

Champlain,  Champlain;  but  success  depended  on  the  sup- 
september,  pOrt  of  the  accompanying  fleet.  All  hope  of 

assistance  from  this  quarter  was  soon  destroyed. 
An  American  fleet  under  Commodore  Macdonough  met  and 
defeated  the  British  off  Plattsburg  in  a  desperate  and  hard- 
fought  contest.  

During  the  summer  the  east 
ern  coast  was  much  harried  by 

the  enemy.    In  Au- 
washington        gust  they  appeared 

in    the    vicinity   of 

Washington,  finally 
taking  that  city,  after  some  feeble 
efforts  at  resistance.  They  burned 
the  Capitol  as  a  "harbor  of 
Yankee  democracy".  The  Presi 
dent's  house  and  some  of  the  other 
public  buildings  were  likewise  de 
stroyed.  This  was  said  to  be  in 
retaliation  for  American  acts  in 
Canada.  The  Americans  had 
burned  the  Government  buildings 
at  York;  but  this  had  been  done  by  some  private  soldiers  acting 
without  authority,  and  was  denounced  by  the  press  of  the 
whole  country  and  disowned  by  the  commanding  general.  The 
English  people,  too,  regretted  the  burning  of  the  buildings  at 
Washington.  One  paper  said:  "The  Cossacks  spared  Paris, 
but  we  spared  not  the  Capitol  of  America". 


taken,  August, 
1814. 


THE  REGION  ABOUT  WASHING 
TON  AND  BALTIMORE 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RIGHTS  UPON  THE  SEA    253 


Naval  events, 
1814. 


The  naval  events  of  this  year  were  not  so  interesting  as 
those  of  the  preceding  year.  The  sloop  Essex,  after  an  ex 
tended  cruise  in  the  Pacific  protecting  American 
whalers  and  capturing  those  of  the  enemy,  was 
destroyed  by  two  English  ships  after  a  fierce  and 
stubborn  contest  near  Valparaiso.  But  by  this  time  the  Eng 
lish  fleet  on  our  coast  was  so  large  that  it  actually  blockaded  the 
principal  ports  of  the  United  States. 

In  the  latter  part  of  this  year  the  British  prepared  to  make 
an  attack  upon  New  Orleans.     They  sent  ten  thousand  veteran 
troops  for  the 

Battle  of  New    purpose. 
Orleans,  Jan-     £  i   -r      i 

uary,  1815.  General  Jack 
son  was  in 
command  of  the  United 
States  forces  in  that  quar 
ter.  After  some  skirmish 
ing,  the  enemy  made  a 
grand  assault  upon  the 
American  defenses,  Janu 
ary  8th.  Our  forces  were 
well  protected,  and  the 
attack  was  disastrous  to 
the  English.  Their  loss 
was  very  great;  their  com 
mander  was  killed,  and  some  two  thousand  of  the  troops  were 
either  killed,  wounded,  or  missing.  The  Americans  lost  about 
seventy. 

This  battle  was  fought  two  weeks  after  peace  had  been  con 
cluded  at  Ghent.     The  treaty  ending  the  war  (December  24, 

1814)  settled  none  of  the  questions  in  dispute,  not 
Ghent!  °  even  tne  right  of  impressment.  But  the  war  was 

nevertheless  not  without  results.  Our  little  navy 
had  shown  its  mettle,  American  privateers  had  done  im 
mense  damage  to  British  shipping,  and  there  was  some  realiza 
tion  in  Europe  that  American  rights  must  be  respected.  More 
over,  as  the  war  in  Europe  was  over,  impressment  was  now 


GULF      o 


THE  WAR  IK  THE  SOUTH 


254 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


practically  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  there  was  no  need  of  a 
clause  in  a  treaty  to  make  it  so.  America  had  beyond 
question  dignified  itself  among  the  nations.  And  yet  one  can 
not  help  regretting  that  the  war  could  not  have  been  avoided. 
It  was  waged  by  one  free  nation  against  another  free  nation, 
and  it  aided  Napoleon,  the  enemy  of  free  institutions  every- 


HOUSE  IN  GHENT  WHERE  THE  COMMISSIONERS  MET  TO  AGREE  UPON  THE 
TREATY  OF  PEACE  THAT  ENDED  THE  WAR  or  1812 

where.  It  was  waged  by  two  peoples  whose  real  interests  were 
the  .same,  and  whose  mission  in  history  has  been  the  develop 
ment  of  liberty  and  civilization.1 

During  the  war  there  had  been  great  dissatisfaction  in  New 
England.  In  the  latter  part  of  1814  a  convention  of  delegates 
from  these  States  met  at  Hartford.  It  was  com 
monly  supposed  that  it  would  plot  a  disruption  of 
the  Union;  but  it  simply  drew  up  remonstrances, 
and  proposed  amendments  to  the  Constitution  intended  to 

1  Though  other  difficulties  arose  no  war  with  Britain  broke  out  for  a 
century  or  more  after  the  treaty  of  Ghent.  Since  that  day  Great  Britain 
has  become  substantially,  in  spirit  and  effectiveness,  a  democracy,  and 
France  has  taken  the  same  step.  See  the  preface  of  this  volume. 


Hartford 
convention. 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  RIGHTS  UPON  THE  SEA    255 

protect  a  minority  of  the  States  against  unwelcome  Federal 
legislation.  The  doctrines  laid  down  were  similar  to  those  of 
the  Virginia  resolution  of  1798:  "In  cases  of  deliberate,  danger 
ous,  and  palpable  infractions  of  the  Constitution,  affecting  the 
sovereignty  of  the  State  and  liberties  of  the  people,  it  is  not 
only  the  right  but  the  duty  of  such  a  State  to  interpose  its 
authority  for  their  protection.  .  .  .  States  which  have  no 
common  umpire  must  be  their  own  judges  and  execute  their 
own  decisions".  Peace  came  before  anything  was  accomplished, 
and  so  the  resolutions  amounted  to  nothing.  The  Federal  party, 
whose  stronghold  was  New  England,  was  brought  into  discredit 
and  disrepute  because  it  had  not  entered  heartily  into  the  war. 
The  war  did  much  to  nationalize  the  country.  State  selfish 
ness  and  pride  had  in  the  minds  of  the  majority  of  the  people 
Effects  of  war  given  place  to  a  broader  love  of  country.  The 
New  Englander  had  grumbled  and  indulged  in 
perpetual  fault-finding,  and  his  opposition  had  given  the  Gov 
ernment  great  anxiety  and  much  trouble;  but  his  cheek,  too, 
flushed  with  pride  as  he  thought  of  the  victories  of  the  Yankee 
ships  upon'  the  sea,  and  remembered  how  Yankee  seamanship 
had  more  than  once  excelled  the  skill  of  the  British  tars.  And 
so  when  the  war  ended  there  was  prospect  for  a  more  firmly 
united  nation  than  ever  before. 

REFERENCES 

HART,  Contemporaries,  Volume  III,  pp.  385-388, 390-394, 417-420, 
422-425;  HART,  Formation  of  the  Union,  pp.  102-220;  WALKER, 
Making  of  the  Nation,  Chapters  X-XII;  GAY,  James  Madison, 
Chapters  XVII-XX;  SCHURZ,  Henry  Clay,  Volume  I,  Chapter  V. 
Longer  accounts:  McMASTER,  Volume  III,  pp.  219-458,  528-560, 
Volume  IV,  pp.  1-279;  SCHOULER,  Volume  II,  pp.  151-224,  310-491; 
CHANNING,  Je/ersonian  System,  Chapters  XIII-XX;  BABCOCK,  Rise 
of  American  Nationality,  Chapters  Ill-XL 


CHAPTER  XIV 
NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT;  INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEMS 

When  the  war  was  over,  America  turned  her  attention  to  the 
tasks  of  progress  and  of  peace,  Years  were  to  pass  without 
serious  trouble  with  foreign  nations,  and  in  those 
years  the  Pe°Ple  were  destined  to  wax  strong — 
founding  new  factories,  moving  on  into  the  West, 
making  new  farms,  reaching  out  for  the  wealth  that  the  land 
offered  in  abundance.  The  problems  that  arose  in  American 
political  life  were,  for  some  time  to  come,  not  shaped  or  con 
fused,  as  they  had  been  in  the  past,  by  European  conflicts  or 
by  partisan  sympathy  for  one  contending  nation  or  another; 
the  time  had  gone  by  when  factions  among  the  people  were 
known  as  British  factions  or  French  factions.  We  had  our  own 
business  to  attend  to  and  that  proved  to  be  enough.  The 
problems  of  the  West,  the  growth  of  manufacturing  in  the 
East,  the  development  of  slavery  in  the  South,  all  brought 
their  problems  for  adjustment. 

For  twenty  years  or  so  Federalists  and  Republicans  had 
been  pitted  against  each  other  and  had  striven  for  control  of  the 
Government.  But  the  course  of  the  war  wrought 
.  ^anges.  The  Republicans,  in  charge  of  the 
Government,  had  largely  given  up  their  notions 
about  strict,  narrow  construction  of  the  Constitution;  they  real 
ized  the  need  of  a  government  which  could  do  things  and  main 
tain  its  xdignity.  Even  Madison  and  Monroe  advocated 
measures  which  were  much  like  those  of  the  old-time  Federalists, 
and  they  were  prepared  to  go  upon  a  principle  of  broad,  national 
interpretation  of  the  Constitution.  The  younger  men,  Clay, 
Calhoun,  and  others,  who  had  brought  on  the  war,  were  filled 

256 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT;  INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEMS  257 

with  enthusiasm  for  progress  and  for  national  upbuilding.1  The 
Federalists,  withering  under  the  reproach  of  the  Hartford  Con 
vention,  soon  ceased  to  play  an  important  part  and  ere  long 
altogether  disappeared  as  a  party. 
In  1816  Monroe  was  chosen  Presi 
dent  by  an  overwhelming  vote, 
the  Federalists  carrying  only  Mas 
sachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Dela 
ware.  Four  years  later  he  was 
again  elected,2  this  time  with  only 
one  electoral  vote  against  him. 
These  eight  or  ten  years  after  the 
war,  free  from  the  absence  of  bitter 
party  strife,  are  commonly  called 
the  "  era  of  good  feeling".  "  People 


said  a  newspaper  in  1817,  "who  a 

short   while   since   would   scarcely 

pass  each  other  along  the  street". 

Even    before    Madison's    administration    ended    Congress 

entered  upon  the  work  of  legislation  to  meet  new  conditions. 
First  of  all  was  the  task  of  bettering  the  monetary 
anc^  financial  condition  of  the  country.  All  during 
the  war  there  had  been  great  confusion;  financial 

disorder  reigned.3    Congress  had  refused  in  1811  to  recharter 

1  "There  should  now  be  no  differences  of  parties",  said  Josiah  Quincy, 
"for  the  Republicans  have  out-federalized  Federalism".    With  the  Repub 
licans  advocating  a  bank,  tariff,  the  building  and  maintenance  of  ships  of 
war,  there  was  nothing  left  for  the  Federalists,  who  had  long  been  only  a 
party  of  opposition,  save  to  find  fault  and  to  cling  to  their  old  suspicion  of 
the  political  competence  of  the  masses  of  the  people;  such  fault-finding 
was.  however,  out  of  place,  when  the  country  was  entering  with  enthusi 
asm  and  hopefulness  on  a  career  of  industrial  development. 

2  Monroe's  cabinet  was  composed  of  able  men;  John  Quincy  Adams 
was  Secretary  of  State;  William  H.  Crawford  of  Georgia,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury;  John  C.  Calhoun,  Secretary  of  War. 

3  "Among  the  severest  trials  of  the  war  was  the  deficiency  of  adequate 
funds  to  sustain  it,  and  the  progressive  degradation  of  the  national  credit. 
The  currency  soon  fell  into  frightful  disorder.    Banks  with  fictitious  cap- 


258  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

the  National  Bank,  whose  charter  then  expired.  State  banks 
had  as  a  consequence  increased  greatly  in  numbers,  many  of 
them  without  more  than  the  merest  show  of  capital.  The  value 
of  their  notes  was  a  matter  of  conjecture.  Most  of  the  banks 
were  utterly  unable  to  do  more  than  put  out  promises  to  pay, 
for  specie  they  did  not  have.  (  Jn  1816  a  new  Bank  bill  was 
introduced  into  Congress  and  passed.  The  charter  was  for 
twenty  years,  the  capital  $35,000,000,  of  which  one-fifth  was 
to  be  owned  by  the  United  States.  One-fifth  of  the  directors 
were  to  be  appointed  by  the  President  and  confirmed  by  the 
Senate.  In  bringing  in  sound  commercial  and  monetary  condi 
tions,  the  bank  was  of  some  service;  but  it  by  no  means  gave 
universal  satisfaction.  In  the  Western  States  particularly 
there  was  much  hostility  to  the  institution  which  the  people 
charged  with  being  the  organ  of  Eastern  capitalists. 

But  it  was  not  possible  to  bring  in  sound  conditions  simply 
by  establishing  a  bank;  the  commerce  and  business  of  the  coun 
try  had  to  settle  down  and  adjust  themselves  to 
new  conditions.  For  almost  the  fourth  of  a  cen 
tury  there  had  been  war  in  Europe,  and  American 
trade  had  grown  up  largely  on  what  we  may  call  a  war  basis. 
Now  there  was  peace;  and  men,  that  had  been  accustomed  to  the 
more  reckless  ventures  of  trade  in  time  of  war,  found  they  must 
learn  new  lessons  of  cool  calculation  and  unlearn  much  that 
they  had  learned  before.  The  country  needed  to  find  its  way 
into  new  paths  of  peaceful  industry. 

For  a  time  everything  seemed  to  go  on  finely;  everywhere 

were  signs  of  enterprise  and  energy.     What  are  commonly 

sh  times        called  flush  times  prevailed.     Men  were  led  into 

speculation  and  were  tempted  to  run  wildly  into 


ital  swarmed  through  the  land  and  spunged  the  purse  of  the  people,  often 
for  the  use  of  their  own  money,  with  more  than  usurious  extortion.  .  .  .  The 
Treasury  of  the  Union  was  replenished  only  with  countless  millions  of 
silken  tatters  and  unavailable  funds;  chartered  corporations,  bankrupt,  .  .  . 
passed  off  upon  the  Government  of  their  country,  at  par,  their  rags — pur 
chasable,  in  open  market,  at  depreciations  of  thirty  and  forty  per  cent". 
(John  Quincy  Adams,  The  Lives  of  Madison  and  Monroe,  p.  272.) 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT;  INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEMS  259 

debt.     Such  conduct  always  brings  its  reward  in  disaster.     Only 
gradually  could  the  losses  of  the  war  be  repaired,  or  business  be 
established  on  a   fair   basis   and   lasting  prosperity   secured. 
Every  hasty  step  simply  added  to  the  trouble  that  was  to  come. 
Before  an  era  of  sound  prosperity  commenced,  the  country 
passed  through  the  hardships  of  a  commercial  panic.     For  this 
there  were  many  reasons.     The  currency  in  com- 
mon  use  in  many  parts  of  the  land  was  of  fluctuat 


ing  and  uncertain  value,  or  of  no  value  at  all; 
much  of  it  consisted  of  notes  issued  by  banks  acting  under  State 
charters  without  sufficient  capital,  often  with  scarcely  any  specie 
or  real  money  of  any  kind.  English  manufacturers  by  sundry 
devices  avoided  the  tariff  laws  and  flooded  the  Eastern  cities 
with  their  goods.  Other  causes  cooperated  to  bring  confusion 
and  uncertainty  in  business.  Great  depression  was  the  inevit 
able  result.  "The  years  1819  and  1820",  says  Benton  in  his 
Thirty  Years'  View,  "  were  a  period  of  gloom  and  agony.  No 
money,  either  gold  or  silver;  no  paper  convertible  into  specie; 
no  measure  or  standard  of  value  left  remaining.  .  .  .  No  price 
for  property  or  produce.  No  employment  for  industry,  no 
demand  for  labor,  no  sale  for  the  product  of  the  farm,  no  sound 
of  the  hammer,  but  that  of  the  auctioneer  knocking  down 
property".  Benton  knew  the  West,  and  perhaps  he  did  not 
exaggerate  the  conditions.  This  was  the  first  of  those  severe 
commercial  panics  which  have  during  the  century  swept  over 
our  country. 

The  United  States  Bank  was  charged  by  many  with  bringing 
on  the  hard  times,  for  which  it  seems  indeed  to  have  been  in 
part  responsible.  Some  of  the  States  tried 
to  Prevent  it  from  establishing  branch  banks 
within  their  limits.  In  the  case  of  McCulloch  vs. 
Maryland,  the  Supreme  Court  decided  that  the  bank  was  con 
stitutional,  and  that  a  State  could  not  tax  the  bank,  as  it  was 
an  agent  of  the  United  States.  *  For  some  time,  however,  in  the 

1  See  McMaster,  History  of  People  of  U.  S.,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  495  and  follow 
ing;  Babcock,  Rise  of  American  Nationality,  294-296. 

In  the  case  of  McCulloch  vs.  Maryland,  Judge  Marshall  fully  states  the 


260  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

West  the  establishment  of  branch  banks  was  resisted,  and  in 
Ohio  the  bank  was  for  a  while  practically  an  outlaw. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  war  there  came  a  demand  for 
the  protection  of  American  manufactures.  The  long  period 
of  war  in  Europe,  the  embargo,  and  the  non- 
intercourse  policy  had  resulted  in  the  encourage 
ment  of  manufacturing  in  this  country,  because  the  products  of 
France  and  England  were  not  brought  into  our  ports  and  into 
competition  with  the  home  product.  After  the  war  English 
goods  were  thrown  upon  our  market  in  large  quantities.  To 
protect  manufacturers  and  to  make  the  country  independent  of 
foreign  countries,  a  tariff  law  was  passed  (1816).  This  was  in 
a  considerable  measure  a  protective  tariff,  and  to  all  practical 
purposes  the  first  of  that  kind.1  It  was  supported  by  the 
South  and  West.  Its  strongest  opponent  was  Daniel  Webster, 
representing  the  commercial  interests  of  New  England.  In  the 
course  of  a  few  years  the  South  became  opposed  to  the  tariff  and 
the  North  in  favor  of  it.2 

In  one  respect  the  country  was  still  backward  and  had  made 

but  little  progress  for  a  generation.    Though  the  people  were 

now  spreading  over  a  vast  territory  and  were  daily 

roads.°f  gOO<      growing  in  numbers,  there  were  few  good  roads 

and  no  canals;  the  stage  coaches  or  the  big  covered 

wagons  with  their  loads  of  weary  passengers  still  bumped  along 

over  abominable  roads;  save  in  the  more  populous  portions  of  the 

doctrine  of  "implied  powers"  which  we  will  remember  Hamilton  announced 
in  connection  with  the  first  bank  bill:  Congress,  under  the  Constitution, 
has  the  power  to  select  suitable  means  for  carrying  out  the  powers  plainly 
granted. 

1  By  a  protective  tariff  is  meant  a  tariff  which  provides  certain  duties 
on  foreign  goods  entering  the  country  at  a  higher  rate  than  is  needed  to 
supply  adequate  revenue  for  the  government;  the  purpose  of  protection  is 
to  keep  out  foreign  goods  or  to  raise  their  price  in  order  that  manufacturers 
at  home  may  afford  to  manufacture.    This  tariff  was  not  solely  or  espe 
cially  a  protective  measure;  the  obtaining  of  revenue  was  probably  the  lead 
ing  purpose. 

2  The  time  was  not  far  distant  when  many  men  at  the  South  would 
echo  the  words  that  John  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  used  in  the  debate  upon 
this  tariff  bill:  "Upon  whom  bears  the  duty  on  coarse  woolens  and  blankets, 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT;  INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEMS  261 


Eastern  States,  it  is  almost  flattery  to  speak  of  highways. 
New  commonwealths  had  already  been  founded  beyond  the 
mountains  but  they  were  still  separated  from  the  eastern  sea 
board  by  long  dreary  stretches  of  forest,  threaded  here  and  there 
by  rough  wagon  roads,  or  by  an  occasional  bridle  trail. 
The  rapid  peopling  of  the  West,  which  was  one  of  the  most 
marked  facts  of  the  day,  now  made  an  imperative  demand  for 
respectable  highways;  no  nation  could  be  great  and  strong 
without  means  of  communication. 

In  Jefferson's  time  something  had  been  done;  as  early  as 
1806  money  had  been  appropriated  for  what  was  known  as  the 
Cumberland   Road.     This  was  to  run  from  the 
Potomac  over  the  mountains  and  into  the  West. 
Something  over  a  hundred  miles  of  road  had  been 
built  by  1816,  when  Calhoun  introduced  a  bill  to  use  the  pro 
ceeds  which  the  Government  received  from  the  bank  for  internal 


THE  CUMBERLAND  ROAD 

improvements.  This  bill  was  vetoed  by  Madison  on  the  ground 
of  unconstitutionality.  Some  years  later  Monroe  vetoed  the 
so-called  Cumberland  Road  bill  for  the  same  reason.  This 
looked  as  if  a  policy  of  strict  construction  was  to  be  again  taken 
up.  But  this  was  almost  the  only  sign  of  a  wish  to  return  to 
the  narrow  policy  the  Republicans  had  favored  twenty  years 
before.  Experience  and  the  war  had  done  much  to  crush  out  a 
timorous  dread  of  governmental  power.  It  is  interesting  to 

on  salt  and  the  necessaries  of  life?    Upon  poor  men  and  slave  owners". 
The  Southerners  as  a  rule  seemed  to  believe  in  1816  that  factories  would 
spring  up  at  the  South,  under  the  encouragement  of  the  tariff. 
18 


262 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


notice  that  Calhoun  and  some  other  southern  men  were  then 
strong  advocates  of  such  internal  improvements  and  of  a  broad 
national  policy.  "Let  it  not  be  forgotten",  said  Calhoun, 
"let  it  be  forever  kept  in  mind,  that  the  extent  of  our  republic 
exposes  us  to  .the  greatest  of  all  calamities,  next  to  the  loss 
of  liberty,  and  even  to  that  in  consequence — disunion  ". 

Fears  of  constitutional  authority  to  build  roads  could  do  no 
more  than  delay  the  movement  for  better  means  of  communica 
tion  between  the  West  and  the  eastern  seaboard, 
state  appro-  Eastern  merchants  and  western  farmers  alike 
wanted  roads  and  canals.  The  Federal  Govern 
ment  might  not  act  or  it  might  appropriate  money  only 
with  hesitation;  but  the  States  could  build  roads  within 
their  limits.  Pennsylvania  spent  money  freely  on  turnpikes  and 
even  South  Carolina  and  Virginia  took  similar  steps.  But 
New  York,  in  a  position  of  great  advantage,  made  the  most  im 
portant  improvement;  on  the  east  her  confines  touched  the  At 
lantic  where  the  Hudson  rolled  down  in  a  magnificent  current 
to  the  sea;  on  the  west  was  Lake  Erie  offering  wide  and  free 
communication  with  the  interior;  the  Appalachian  chain,  which 
formed  a  barrier  further  south,  opened  up  in  central  New  York 


THE  ERIE  CANAL 

as  if  inviting  a  waterway  from  the  ocean 
to  the  lakes. 

The  state  took  up  the  enterprise,  under 
the  leadership  of  De  Witt  Clinton.     The 

The  Erie  Canal    ™™1  Pr°Ject  Was  at  first  ridi- 

culed  as  "Clinton's  Ditch", 
but  his  untiring  energy  and  faith  over 
came  ridicule  and  obstinate  opposition;  and  final  results  justified 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT;  INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEMS  263 

his  unflagging  zeal.  The  Erie  Canal  was  built,  a  waterway 
some  three  hundred  and  sixty  miles  in  length,  from  the 
Hudson  to  Lake  Erie.  It  was  finished  in  1825.  The  most 
enthusiastic  person  could  scarcely  have  foreseen  how  great 
would  be  the  influence  of  the  canal  in  building  up  the 
commerce  of  New  York  City  and  enriching  the  state.  "At  this 
epoch",  we  are  told,  "the  history  of  modern  New  York  properly 
begins".  By  this  easy  route  emigrants  found  their  way  to  the 
regions  of  the  Old  Northwest  and  the  goods  from  eastern  mer 
chants  were  carried  to  the  consumers  of  the  interior.  In  this 
way  the  products  of  the  western  farms  found  an  outlet  to  the 
factory  and  the  sea.  The  Old  Northwest — which  was,  in 


A  LOCK  ON  THE  ERIE  CANAL 
From  an  old  print 

fact,  still  young  and  largely  undeveloped — entered  now  upon 
a  new  phase  of  life.  In  1826,  there  were  seven  steamers  on 
Lake  Erie,  and  four  years  later  a  daily  line  was  running  be 
tween  Buffalo  and  Detroit. 

The  growth  of  the  West,  to  which  we  have  already  referred, 
was  phenomenal  in  the  early  decades  of  the  century.  There 
had  long  been  an  intermittent  stream  of  migration  over  the 


264  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

mountains  from  the  seacoast  States.  Whenever  times  were  bad 
or  the  ocean  commerce  was  seriously  interfered  with,  many 
Migration  to  turned  their  faces  westward  and  sought  new 
the  west.  homes,  expecting  to  begin  life  over  again  in  the 
wilderness.  Between  1810  and  1816  the  population  of  Ohio  in 
creased  from  two  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  to  about  four 
hundred  thousand.  In  the  same  period  the  number  of  people  in 
Indiana  leaped  from  twenty-four  thousand  to  nearly  three 
times  that  number.  The  Southern  seacoast  States  poured  their 
citizens  into  Illinois  and  the  Territories  of  the  Southwest.  Many 
of  the  Eastern  States  were  almost  stationary  in  population. 
North  Carolina  complained  that  within  twenty-five  years 
two  hundred  thousand  people  had  removed  to  the  waters 
of  the  Ohio  and  Tennessee.  Virginia,  "the  Old  Domin 
ion",  might  almost  be  said  to  be  the  mother  of  States  as 


THE  CONESTOGA  WAGON 

well  as  of  Presidents.  "While  many  other  States",  reported  a 
committee  of  her  legislature,  "have  been  advancing  in  wealth  and 
numbers  with  a  rapidity  which  has  astonished  themselves,  the 
ancient  Dominion  and  elder  sister  of  the  Union  has  remained  sta 
tionary.  .  .  .  The  fathers  of  the  land  are  gone  where  another 
outlet  to  the  ocean  turns  their  thoughts  from  the  place  of  their 
nativity,  and  their  affections  from  the  haunts  of  their  youth". 

After  1816,  the  tide  of  migration  to  the  West  became  a 
mighty  current.     "We  are",  said  Calhoun  at  that  time,  "greatly 
and  rapidly, — I  was  about  to  say  fearfully  grow- 
°f  ing"'     Steamboats  plied  up  and  down  the  western 
rivers1  and  travelers  thronged  the  roads  to  the 

1  By  1820  there  were  sixty  steamboats  on  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio;  a 
decade  later  four  times  that  number.  Steamers  plied,  too,  up  and  down 
the  larger  tributaries. 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT;  INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEMS  265 

interior.  "Old  America  seems  to  be  breaking  up  and  moving 
westward",  wrote  a  traveler  on  the  Cumberland  road  in  1817. 
"  We  are  scarcely  out  of  sight,  as  we  travel  on  this  grand  tract, 
toward  the  Ohio,  of  family  groups,  behind  and  before  us.  .  .  . 
A  small  wagon  (so  light  you  might  almost  carry  it,  yet  strong 
enough  to  bear  a  great  load  of  bedding,  utensils  and  provisions, 


STEAMBOAT  ON  THE  MISSISSIPPI 
From  Ripley's  Social  Life  in  Old  New  Orleans 

and  a  swarm  of  young  citizens — and  to  sustain  marvelous 
shocks  in  its  passage  over  these  rocky  heights)  with  two  small 
horses;  sometimes  a  cow  or  two,  comprise  their  all;  excepting 
a  little  store  of  hard-earned  cash  for  the  land  office  of  the  dis 
trict;  where  they  may  obtain  a  title  for  as  many  acres  as  they 
possess  half  dollars,  being  one-fourth  of  the  purchase  money".1 
Arrived  at  their  destination,  these  hardy  pioneers  would  settle 
in  the  forest,  build  a  rude  log  cabin,  begin  the  work  of  felling 
the  trees  or  of  killing  them  by  girdling,  plant  a  little  patch  of 
corn,  and  thus  enter  upon  a  new  life  in  the  wilderness.  "Ameri 
ca",  it  was  said,  "was  born  in  a  cabin". 


1  At  that  time  a  settler  could  buy  land,  three-fourths  on  credit,  at  two 
dollars  per  acre;  in  1820  a  law  was  passed  providing  that  a  purchaser  could 
buy  eighty  acres  from  the  government  at  one  dollar  and  a  quarter,  without 
credit. 


266  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

From  the  southern  Atlantic  states  the  pilgrims  moved  west 
ward  and  began  the  foundation  of  new  commonwealths;  plant 
ers  with  cattle  and   with  slaves  established  new 
Movements        piantations  in  the  rich  river  valleys  of  the  gulf 

within  tne  west.  *  •        »»       «  «  •>        r 

region.  From  the  Northern  States  the  farmer 
made  his  way  over  the  mountains  into  the  Old  Northwest. 
Even  from  the  older  sections  of  the  West  men  passed  on 
to  the  frontier — north  into  Indiana  and  Illinois,  or  south 
into  Alabama  and  Mississippi.  Movements  such  as  these 
were  typical  and  characteristic  facts  in  the  history  of  American 
settlement,  for  the  frontiersman  was  often  restless  and  was  no 
sodner  established  in  one  place  than  he  began  to  think  he  could 
do  better  farther  on.  In  1816,  when  Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  lad 
of  seven  years,  his  father  took  the  family  from  Kentucky, 
across  the  Ohio,  into  Indiana,  made  his  way  into  the  forest, 
built  a  "half-faced"  camp  in  which  to  pass  the  first  dreary 
winter,  and  began  his  new  struggle  against  the  wilderness. 

Not  all  of  the  pioneers  were  poor;  some  of  the  Southerners 

moving  into  the  lower  part  of  the  gulf  region  were  well-to-do 

and  went  prepared  to  begin  their  big  plantations, 

labor*7  and       but  the  hardy  pioneer  of  the  West  had  as  a  rule 

but  little  property.     He  began   his   new   life  in 

simplest  fashion;  he  met  want  and  he  suffered  privation;  he 

had  little  to  rely  upon  save  his  own  hard  work;  and  he  needed 

to  be  self-reliant,  industrious,  and  patient. 

If  we  would  understand  American  life  we  must  understand 
the  frontier  and  we  must  see  that  as  men  worked  to  conquer  the 
wilderness  all  their  tasks  and  methods  of  life 
thff  rentier*  helped  to  make  American  character;  social  dis 
tinctions — fine  education,  honorable  ancestry — 
had  no  special  value  to  the  man  whose  business  it  was  to  fell 
trees,  plant  corn,  build  a  cabin,  and  force  his  way  to  comfort 
by  dint  of  his  own  unaided  energy.  There  is  an  old  saying 
and  a  true  one  that  men  are  what  they  do  or,  as  an  old 
Spanish  writer  said,  that  a  man  is  the  child  of  his  own  deeds. 
Thus  the  American  man  of  the  great  valley  was  the  child  of 
hard  work,  of  strong,  steady  labor  which  he  must  do  for  him- 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT;  INDUSTRIAL  PkOBLEMS  267 

self.  He  must  be  independent  and  self  dependent — an  "in 
dividualist"  the  philosopher  would  call  him — a  man  who  trusted 
in  himself,  who  wanted  to 
be  left  alone  by  theorists 
and  by  men  who  did  not 
know  what  practical  toil 
meant.  He  stood  face  to 
face  with  the  tasks  of  the 
wilderness.  That  man 
was  greatest  among  the 
pioneers  who  could  do 
better  than  others  the 

jobs  that  all  had  to  do. 

A    j  ,,       ,,.    .  A  FRONTIER  LOG  CABIN 

And    yet   the  Missis 
sippi  Valley  did  not  long  remain  a  wilderness.     The  population 
of  the  West  in  1800  was  less  than  400,000,  includ- 

New  States. 

ing  Kentucky  and  Tennessee;  in  1820  it  was 
considerably  over  2,ooo,ooo.1  Towns  sprang  up  in  the 
Old  Northwest,  and  big  plantations  stretched  along  the 
river  beds  of  the  southern  states.  In  1816  Indiana  came 
into  the  Union;  Mississippi  (1817),  Illinois  (1818),  Alabama 
(1819),  Missouri  (1821),  followed  in  quick  succession.  The 
United  States  had  entered  fairly  upon  a  new  stage  of  its 
existence.  In  1775  there  were  thirteen  colonies  scattered  along 
the  Atlantic  coast;  their  traditions  were  colonial;  they  looked 
eastward  across  three  thousand  miles  of  water  to  a  mother 
country  whose  leading  strings  they  were  ready  to  cast  aside. 
Forty  years  later  only  four  States  had  been  formed  west  of 
the  mountains;  the  people  still  looked  toward  Europe,  and  their 
politics  were  largely  shaped  by  foreign  conditions.  In  1820 
there  were  eight  States  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  every 
where  a  Western  vigor  and  energy  showed  themselves.  No 
longer  was  the  United  States  a  row  of  seacoast  republics,  but  an 

1The  population  of  the  whole  United  States  grew  rapidly  during  this 
time  partly  because  of  immigration  from  foreign  lands.  In  1820  there  were 
9.638,453  people  in  the  country. 


268  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

empire  stretching  away  to  the  interior,  giving  visions  of  con 
tinental  dominion.  In  the  great  valley  won  from  France  in 
the  momentous  conflict  seventy-five  years  before,  the  American 
people  were  now  waxing  strong,  regardless  and  forgetful  of  old 
colonial  dependence,  and  heedless  of  European  politics. 

The  westward  movement  made  the  acquisition  of  Florida 
important.  From  the  beginning  of  the  century  our  Govern 
ment  had  been  desirous  of  getting  possession  of 
Florida!101  that  region-  Jt  wil1  be  remembered  that  West 
Florida  had  been  claimed  as  part  of  the  Louisiana 
purchase,  on  the  ground  that  the  original  Louisiana — that  is 
to  say,  "Louisiana  as  it  was  in  the  hands  of  France" — had  ex 
tended  to  the  east  of  Mobile  Bay,  and  even  to  the  Perdido.  In 
iSio1  a  considerable  portion  of  this  territory  was  occupied  by 
American  troops,  and  in  the  early  part  of  1813  Mobile  was  taken 
and  a  fort  built  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbor.  But  for  some 
years  after  this  the  rest  of  the  Floridas  remained  in  the  hands 
of  Spain.  In  1818  General  Andrew  Jackson,  engaged  in  fight 
ing  the  Seminole  Indians  who  were  then  at  war,  entered  Florida 
and  hanged  two  Englishmen,  on  the  ground  that  they  had  given 
aid  and  comfort  to  the  Seminoles  and  were  but  "  outlaws  and 
pirates".  This  showed  that  the  province  was  not  in  reality 
governed  by  Spain,  but  was  at  our  mercy.  In  1819  Spain  ceded 
Florida  to  the  United  States.  In  payment,  the  United  States 
agreed  to  pay  the  claims  of  our  citizens  against  Spain  to  the 
amount  of  $5,000,000.  The  western  boundary  of  Louisiana 
was  at  the  same  time  determined;  we  surrendered  any  claim  we 
might  have  to  the  Texas  country,  and  Spain  gave  up  all  claim 
to  land  north  of  the  forty-second  parallel.2  The  treaty  was  not 
ratified  by  Spain  till  1821. 

1  A  proclamation  was  issued  by  Madison  in  1810  ordering  the  seizure 
and  possession  of  the  land  "south  of  the  Mississippi  Territory  and  east 
ward  of  the  Mississippi,  and  extending  to  the  river  Perdido". 

2  See  the  map  on  page  272.     This  line  of  1819  is  important.     It  ran 
up  the  west  branch  of   Sabine   River   to  32°  latitude  and   thence   due 
north  to  the  Red  River;  thence  up  the  Red  River  to  longitude   100°; 
thence  due  north  to  the  Arkansas  River;  thence  along  the  south  bank  of 
the  Arkansas  to  its  source,   in  latitude  42°,  or  by  a  direct  line  from  its 
source  to  the  42d  parallel;  thence  due  west  to  the  Pacific. 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT;  INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEMS  269 

Westward  expansion  brought  up  the  slavery  question;  the 
problem  entered  on  a  new  phase.     Was  slavery  to  occupy  the 

great  West?  Was  it  to  grow  stronger  and  stronger 
Jnd  dlvery.  as  new  ^an(^s  were  °Pened  and  new  chances  were 

given  for  growing  tobacco,  cotton  and  sugar  cane? 
Was  there  any  method  of  confining  the  slave  system  to  the  old 
limits  or  preventing  it  from  spreading  far  and  wide  over  the 
national  domain?  This  question  began  to  loom  large  on  the 
horizon  by  1818,  and  soon  far-seeing  men  realized  that  the 
nation  was  faced  by  a  serious  problem  threatening,  in  years  to 
come,  the  very  existence  of  the  nation.  Up  to  that  time  men 
had  scarcely  appreciated  the  gravity  of  the  slavery  question  or 
they  had  not  seen  that  the  nation  was  developing  two  distinct 
systems  of  labor  and  of  social  life.  Both  sections  were  reach 
ing  out  for  new  territory;  which  system  of  labor  would 
prevail? 

When  the  Constitution  was  formed  all  the  States  save  Massa 
chusetts  and  New  Hampshire  had  slaves,  but  everywhere  in  the 

North  the  institution  was  losing  ground.     At  the 

North  the  industry  and  life  of  the  people  were  not 
materially  influenced  by  slave  labor;  at  the  South 
society  was  built  upon  that  system.  But  in  the  South  as 
well  as  in  the  North  it  was  considered  by  thinking  men  an 
evil.  The  ablest  Virginia  statesmen  lamented  the  existence  of 
slavery  and  foretold  its  baneful  effect.  In  the  Philadelphia 
convention  George  Mason,  of  Virginia,  used  these  words: 
"Slavery  discourages  arts  and  manufactures.  The  poor 
despise  labor  when  performed  by  slaves.  They  prevent  the 
emigration  of  whites,  who  really  enrich  and  strengthen  a  coun 
try.  They  produce  the  most  pernicious  effect  on  manners. 
Every  master  of  slaves  is  born  a  petty  tyrant.  They  bring  the 
judgment  of  Heaven  on  a  country.  As  nations  can  not  be  re 
warded  or  punished  in  the  next  world,  they  must  be  in  this.  By 
an  inevitable  chain  of  causes  and  effects,  Providence  punishes 
national  sins  by  national  calamities". 

It  is  true  that  the  delegates  from  the  most  southern  States 
contended  in  the  convention  for  permission  to  introduce  slaves, 


270 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


and  the  Constitution  in  consequence  declared  such  introduction 

should  not  be  prohibited  before  January  i,  iSoS.1     And  it  is 

true  that  at  a  later  time  representatives  in  Con- 

The  North  does 

not  realize  the    gress  from  these  same  States  bitterly  resented  at- 
growth  of  tacks  upon  slavery.     But  the  Northern  men  were 

for  some  years  deluded  by  the  hope  that  in  the 
natural  course  of  events  slavery  would  disappear  from  the 
South,  as  it  was  everywhere  disappearing  in  the  North.  In 
1807  a  bill  was  passed  making  the  importation  of  slaves  illegal 
after  the  end  of  the  year,  and  later  the  President  was  authorized 
to  use  the  ships  of  war  to  stop  the  African  slave  trade.  Upon 
neither  of  these  matters  was  there  great  discussion  or  excite 
ment,  and  the  North  slumbered  on,  in  large  measure  regardless 
of  the  fact  that  slavery  was  winding  ever  more  firmly  its  coils 
about  the  Southern  States,  that  opinion  in  Virginia  was  changed, 
that  already  the  lower -part  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  was  utterly 
given  over  to  the  system. 

The  greatest  reason  for  the  extension  of  slavery  and  for  its 
gaining  a  stronger  hold  than  had  seemed  possible  forty  years 

before  lay  in 

the  fact  that 

cotton  raising 
had  become  a  widespread 
industry,  an  industry  for 
which  slave  labor  was  well 
fitted.  First  had  come  the 
invention  of  the  cotton  gin 
in  1793;  Eli  Whitney,  a 
Connecticut  schoolmaster 
visiting  in  the  South,  dis 
covered  a  method  of  ex 
tracting  the  seed  from  the 
cotton  which  enabled  one 
slave  to  do  the  work  of 
fifty.  Then  the  introduc-  AN  EARLY  COTTON  GIN 


Slavery  and 
cotton. 


1  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  9,  §  i. 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT;  INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEMS  271 

tion  of  new  machinery  for  spinning  and  weaving,  the  use  of 
steam,  the  building  up  of  factories  in  England  and  the  north 
ern  States,  made  a  new  demand  for  cotton.  It  was  discov 
ered,  too,  that  good  cotton  could  be  raised  in  the  upland 
country  of  the  seaboard  States,  and,  with  the  peopling  of  the 
fertile  virgin  tracts  of  the  Southwest,  cotton  raising  began  to 
be  of  immense  importance.  The  price  of  slaves  rose;  slave 
labor  was  in  demand;,  the  slavery  system  was  fastened  upon 
the  South. 

Thus,  as  the  North  was  reaching  out  for  new  farms  in  the 
West,  where  the  pioneer  made  his  own  home  in  the  forests  or 
tilled  his  own  land;  as  factories  and  workshops 
politic!  a  increased  in  number,  and  the  Northern  people 

were  growing  strong  and  rich  on  the  basis  of 
modern  free  labor,  the  South  was  growing  on  the  basis  of 
slave  labor;  and  suddenly  the  truth  was  seen  that  North  and 
South,  with  different  industrial  systems,  held  different  senti 
ments  on  the  subject  of  slavery.1  Slavery  became  a  political 
question,  aroused  the  fear  of  men,  and  stirred  them  to  bitterness 
in  debate.  Although  the  North  had  been  gaining  in  population 
more  rapidly  than  the  South,  slave  States  and  free  States  had 
been  admitted  into  the  Union  alternately,  and  the  balance  be 
tween  the  sections  had  been  kept  in  the  Senate,  where  each 
State  had  equal  weight  with  every  other.  A  proposition  to  ex 
clude  slavery  from  a  State  seeking  admission  disclosed  to  the 
people  how  widely  they  had  drifted  asunder. 

When  Missouri  asked  for  admission  to  the  Union  in  1819, 
the  lower  house  of  Congress  passed  an  act  providing  for  admis 
sion  but  also  providing  against  the  further  intro- 
Auction  of  more  slaves  within  the  State  and  the 
gradual  freeing  of  those  already  there.  The  Sen 
ate  rejected  the  measure  in  this  form,  and,  as  debate  followed  de 
bate,  the  whole  country  was  aroused  to  a  high  pitch  of  excite- 

1  By  1820  the  men  of  the  South  did  riot  as  a  rule  defend  the  existence  of 
slavery  or  maintain  that  slavery  in  itself  was  good  but  they  were  pre 
pared  to  resent  Northern  attacks;  and  year  by  year  the  system  secured  a 
firmer  hold. 


272 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


ment.  Now  Maine,  about  to  separate  from  Massachusetts,  asked 
admission  as  a  State.  The  friends  of  slavery  sought  to  make  the 
admission  of  Maine  dependent  on  the  admission  of  Missouri 
without  any  provision  against  slavery.  A  compromise  was 
finally  agreed  upon  (1820).  It  provided  for  the  admission  of 


FREE  AND  SLAVE  AREAS  AFTER  1820 

\ 
Missouri  as  a  slave  State,  but  with  this  exception  there  was  to 

be  no  slavery  in  the  territory  purchased  from  France  under  the 
name  of  Louisiana  north  of  the  line  36°  30'.  Maine  was  alsc 
admitted.1  Thus  an  understanding  between  the  sections  was 
reached.  Missouri  was  to  come  in  as  a  slave  State,  but  in  all 
the  wide  domain  to  the  north  and  west  there  were  to  be  no  more 


1  The  line  of  36°  30'  is  the  northern  line  of  North  Carolina.  The  north 
ern  boundary  of  Tennessee  varies  slightly  from  this  parallel,  running 
somewhat  to  the  north,  between  the  mountains  and  the  Cumberland  River. 
West  of  that  river  the  line  of  36°  30'  is  the  northern  boundary.  West  of 
the  Mississippi  the  line  is  shown  on  the  map. 

The  Compromise  did  not  say  that  no  more  slave  states  should  come  in; 
but  that  in  the  territory  purchased  from  France  in  1803  there  should  be  no 
slaves  north  of  36°  30';  if  slavery  could  not  exist  in  the  territory,  there  was 
little  chance  of  the  formation  of  a  slave  state. 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT;  INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEMS  273 

slaves.     The  northern  people  could  for  a  time  breathe  easily, 
feeling  that  slavery  expansion  was  permanently  checked. 

The  act  we  have  just  mentioned  was  an  "enabling  act";  it 
authorized  Missouri  to  form  a  constitution  and  make  prepara 
tion  to  enter  the  Union.     When   Missouri  pre- 
The  second  com-  s6ntecj  nerseif  for  final  admission,  it  was  discovered 

promise,  1021. 

that  her  constitution  contained  a  clause  forbidding 
the  entrance  of  free  negroes.  This  caused  difficulty  anew;  but 
a  compromise  was  adopted,  through  Clay's  effort,  whereby 
Missouri  was  admitted,  but  with  the  understanding  that  citizens 
of  other  States  should  not  be  deprived  of  their  rights  under  the 
Federal  Constitution  of  going  to  Missouri.1 

Thus  the  cleavage  between  slavery  and  freedom  was  clearly 
marked  by  a  geographical  line.  This  whole  bitter  controversy 

showed  the  people  how  they  differed.  It  rang  out, 
sections?111  sa^  ^^  ^^  JenCerson>  "like  a  fire-bell  in  the 

night".  There  were  now  two  sections  well  defined, 
differing  more  and  more  as  the  years  went  by  in  industrial  and 
social  makeup.  For  each  succeeding  year  the  South  was  more 
under  the  influence  of  this  one  institution,  while  the  North  was 
developing  like  the  rest  of  the  civilized  world,  free  from  the 
weight  of  slavery. 

One  of  the  most  important  problems  that  arose  in  these 
years  grew  out  of  our  relations  with  the  states  of  Central  and 
The  South  South  America.  After  the  close  of  the  Napoleonic 
American  states  wars,  all  the  Spanish  continental  colonies  from 
and  the  Holy  Mexico  to  the  far  south,  one  by  one,  threw  off  the 

yoke  of  Spain,  and  finally  succeeded  in  sustaining 
themselves  as  independent  powers.  At  this  same  time  the  so- 
called  "Holy  Alliance"  was  formed  in  Europe,  made  up  of  the 
most  powerful  monarchs  of  the  Continent.  Its  chief  aim  was 
to  check  the  growth  of  democracy,  and  to  strengthen  the  hold  of 
absolutism  on  the  people.  As  long  as  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Alliance  was  confined  to  Europe  we  had  no  ground  of  complaint; 
but  there  began  to  be  signs  that  government  by  the  people  was 

1  See  Constitution,  art.  iv,  sec.  2,  §  i. 


274  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

not  safe  from  interference  even  on  this  continent;  that  efforts 
would  be  made  to  overthrow  the  free  governments  set  up  in 
Central  and  South  America,  and  compel  the  return  of  these 
states  to  Spanish  control.  In  addition  to  this  trouble,  our  Gov 
ernment  was  somewhat  uneasy  over  the  fact  that  Russia  showed 
an  inclination  to  creep  down  the  western  coast  of  North  America 
and  to  claim  land  considerably  south  of  what  might  justly  be 
considered  her  right. 

Under  these  circumstances  Monroe  sent  to  Congress  (De 
cember,  1823)  a  message  which  contained  a  statement  of  the 
foreign  policy  of  the  United  States.  There  were 
two  chief  propositions:  That  any  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  European  powers  "to  extend  their  sys 
tem  to  any  portion  of  this  hemisphere"  would  be  considered 
"as  dangerous  to  our  peace  and  safety",  and  that  any  effort  to 
oppress  the  South  American  states  or  to  control  their  destiny 
would  be  viewed  as  a  "manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  disposi 
tion  toward  the  United  States."  Second — as  a  warning  to  Russia 
— that  the  American  continents  were  no  longer  "to  be  considered 
as  subjects  for  future  colonization  by  any  European  power".  The 
next  year  Russia  entered  into  a  treaty  with  us,  agreeing  not  to 
claim  territory  south  of  54°  40',  the  present  southern  boundary 
of  Alaska.1  Monroe's  message  undoubtedly  made  the  Holy 
Alliance  pause  and  consider.  England  was  in  sympathy  with 
our  action.  "  This  crowning  effort  of  Monroe's  career  contrasted 
well  with  that  to  which  it  stood  opposed,  for  the  main  motive 
was  to  shelter  honorably  these  tender  blossoms  of  liberty  on 
kindred  soil  from  the  cold  Siberian  blasts  of  depotism".2 
. i . 

1  The  Monroe  Doctrine,  as  it  was  announced  in  1823,  had  its  roots  in 
the  past  (see  Oilman's  Monroe,  chap.  vii).    And  it  now  means  more  than 
it  did  in  1823.    "On  its  negative  side  it  is  a  strong  jealousy  in  respect  to 
European  interference  in  any  and  all  matters  that  are  peculiarly  American, 
and  particularly  North  American.    In  a  word,  it  is  the  national  resolution 
to  assert  and  to  maintain  the  leadership  that  the  people  believe  both  Nature 
and  history  have  assigned  to  them  on  the  two  continents".    It  is  a  senti 
ment  produced  by  historical  and  geographical  conditions;  it  is  in  no  proper 
sense  a  principle  of  international  law. 

2  Schouler's  History,  vol.  iii,  p.  291. 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT;  INDUSTRIAL  PROBLEMS  275 

REFERENCES 

HART,  Formation  of  the  Union,  Chapter  XI;  BURGESS,  The  Middle 
Period,  Chapters  I,  II,  V;  OILMAN,  James  Monroe,  Chapters  VI- VIII; 
SCHURZ,  Henry  Clay,  Volume  I,  Chapters  VI-VIII;  VON  HOLST, 
Calhoun,  pp.  26-60;  SUMNER,  Andrew  Jackson,  Chapter  III.  Longer 
accounts:  MCMASTER,  Volume  IV,  pp.  280-600;  Volume  V,  pp.  1-54, 
SCHOULER,  Volume  III,  pp.  1-259,  27I~3°35  BABCOCK,  Rise  of  Ameri 
can  Nationality,  Chapters  XII-XVIII;  TURNER,  Rise  of  the  New 
West,  Chapters  I-XII,  XIV. 


CHAPTER  XV 

PARTY  REORGANIZATION;   PERSONAL  AND  SECTIONAL 

DISPUTE 

The  period  we  have  just  been  studying,  a  period  of  marked 
expansion  and  of  industrial  growth,  brought  political  changes. 
The  old  party  divisions,  as  we  have  seen,  had 
democracy  practically  disappeared;  every  one,  save  a  few 
malcontents,  who  looked  back  with  longing  on  the 
old  Federalist  days,  prided  himself  on  being  a  Republican.  But 
there  were  more  fundamental  changes  still ;  the  country  had  by 
1824  become  more  thoroughly  democratic  than  it  had  been  fifty 
years  before  or  even  when  Jefferson  came  into  office  and  an 
nounced  his  popular  doctrine. 

It  had  become  more  democratic  in  the  sense  that  there  was 
greater  readiness  to  trust  the  people,  less  suspicion  of  popular 
judgment;  and  on  the  other  hand,  among  the  main  body  of  the 
people,  there  was  more  self-confidence  and  assurance.  Western 
development  had  had  much  to  do  with  these  changes;  the  West 
did  not  know  class  distinctions;  the  West  grew  and  prospered 
under  the  hands  of  the  men  who  had  settled  there  as  woodsmen; 
these  pioneers  had  made  constitutions,  founded  governments, 
and  managed  the  affairs  of  state.  Western  constitutions  were 
free  from  such  restrictions  as  had  limited  the  suffrage  in  the 
early  constitutions  of  the  older  states;  and  now  the  Eastern 
States,  influenced  probably  by  Western  example  and  filled  with 
a  new  confidence  in  popular  government,  began  to  change  their 
constitutions  by  striking  out  the  old  restrictions  on  the  suffrage 
and  on  the  right  to  hold  office.  There  were  other  signs  that  gov 
ernments  were  to  be  the  people's  governments  more  fully 
and  truly  than  ever  before.  Jeffersonian  democracy  had 
been  in  part  theory  alone;  the  new  democracy  was  real,  prac 
tical,  self-assertive,  strong.  One  of  the  early  manifestations 

276 


PARTY  REORGANIZATION  277 

of    new  popular  sentiment  showed  itself    in  the  election  of 
1824. 

While  everybody  or  nearly  everybody  called  himself  a  Re 
publican  and  asserted  deepest  devotion  to  the  fame  and  the 
principles  of  the  dear  old  Jeffersonian  party,  the 
Who  is  to  be       political  leaders  and  their  supporters  were  bitterly 

President?  £  *T,     ,  .    ,        r  \ 

hostile,  and  the  party  was  divided  into  cliques  and 
factions,  each  gathered  around  its  chosen  guide  or  favorite  states 
man.  Though  there  were  many  matters  of  public  policy  about 
which  men  might  differ,  policies  did  not  take  shape  as  party 
beliefs  or  find  expression  in  what  we  now  call  platforms.  The 
contest  therefore  waged  about  persons,  and  the  great  question 
was,  who  should  be  the  president? 

Soon  after  parties  came  into  existence  in  Washington's  ad 
ministration,  methods  for  nominating  candidates  for  the  pres 
idency  were  introduced.  The  constitution  pro- 
™Lf  caucus.  yided  for  electors  who  were  supposed  .to  choose 
the  man  they  desired;  each  elector  could  vote  for 
anyone  whom  he  thought  best  fitted  for  the  office.  But,  with 
the  rise  of  parties,  this  free  choice  disappeared;  the  electors 
voted  for  the  candidate  of  their  party,  a  man  already  pointed 
out  in  accordance  with  some  method  of  party  nomination.  The 
Republicans  used  the  Congressional  Caucus  to  nominate  candi 
dates;  the  members  of  the  party  in  Congress  met  together  and 
announced  the  men  of  their  choice.  Ndw  while  there  were  two 
active  parties,  such  a  method  of  nomination,  though  not  ap 
proved  by  everybody,  was  accepted  without  serious  opposition; 
but  it  is  plain  that,  after  the  Federalists  had  disappeared,  the 
mere  nomination  by  the  Republican  congressmen  would  be 
equivalent  to  an  election,  unless  there  were  other  means  oi 
putting  forth  candidates.  By  1824  opposition  to  the  caucus 
system  had  grown  up.  It  was  felt  by  many  persons  that 
officeholders  held  altogether  too  much  power  and  that,  when 
Congress  assumed  the  right  to  nominate  candidates  for  the 
Presidency,  it  was  time  to  object.  New,  western,  self-con 
fident  democracy  was  out  of  patience  with  the  notion  that 
Congressmen  should  tell  the  people  whom  to  vote  for. 
19 


278 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


There  were  four  men  ambitious  for  the  presidency  in  1824, 
Andrew  Jackson,  John  Quincy  Adams,  Henry  Clay  and  William 
H.  Crawford.    Adams  was  the  favorite  of  the 
New  Englanders,  and  in  general  of  the  more  con 
servative  people  in  the  East;  tradition  moreover 
pointed  to  the  Secretary  of  State  as  a  sort  of  heir 
Clay,  a  simple  Westerner,  with  manners  of  a  cour 
tier  and  the  charm  of  a  winning  personality,  had  warm  admirers 
everywhere.     Crawford,  of  Georgia,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 


King  Caucus 
and  the 
candidates. 


apparent. 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1824 

ury,  a  capable  man  and  a  shrewd  politician,  was  backed  by 
many  of  the  office-holders  and  the  political  workers.  Jackson, 
a  picturesque  figure  who  had  made  a  strong  impression  on  the 
great  mass  of  the  plain  people,  had  wide  support  in  the  West, 
where  he  seemed  to  typify  the  vigor,  self-reliance,  and  sim 
plicity  of  the  frontier.  Of  them  all,  Crawford  was  the  best 
politician;  he  controlled  the  caucus  and  was  nominated  in  the 
"regular"  way.  But  the  friends  of  the  others  did  not  yield. 
Who  was  "King  Caucus",  they  asked,  that  it  should  decide  this 
matter?  Why  should  a  handful  of  Congressmen  nominate  the 


PARTY  REORGANIZATION  279 

President  and  expect  the  people  to  ratify  their  choice?    The 
people  were  competent  to  attend  to  such  matters  themselves. 

So,  though  Crawford  had  secured  the  coveted  nomination, 
it  did  him  little  good.     State  legislatures  now  put  forth  the 
names  of  the  candidates  they  preferred,  and  thus 
Adams.*1 '  Adams,  Clay  and  Jackson  were  nominated.     The 

result  of  the  election  that  followed  was  surprising; 
for  the  East  had  not  been  able  to  take  Jackson,  the  frontiersman 
and  Indian  fighter,  quite  seriously.  Adams  received  84  elec 
toral  votes;  Crawford  41,  Clay,  37,  while  Jackson  received  99. 
The  New  West  had  thrown  down  the  gauntlet; 1  "  the  man  of  the 
people"  had  run  more  than  an  even  race  against  his  strong, 
experienced  competitors.  As  no  one  received  a  majority  of  elec 
toral  votes,  the  choice  of  one  from  the  three  highest  was  thrown 
upon  the  House  of  Representatives.2  Clay,  whose  influence  in 
Congress  was  great,  favored  Adams,  and  the  New  Englander 
was  elected,  much  to  the  disgust  of  Jackson's  friends,  who 
claimed  that  the  will  of  the  people  had  been  disregarded,  and 
that  Adams  and  Clay  had  entered  into  a  corrupt  bargain. 
There  was  no  difficulty  about  the  vice-presidency,  Calhoun 
having  been  elected  without  serious  opposition. 

The  election  of  1824  was  the  first  one  in  which  the  people 
of  the  country  as  a  whole  took  a  widfi  and  deep  interest.  Four 
years  later  there  was  even  more  interest,  and  it 
was  eyident  that  the  common  voter  was  to  have 
his  say  about  what  went  on.  Thanks  to  the  new 
suffrage  laws  and  the  awakened  feeling  that  the  people  had  both 
power  and  sense,  men  took  an  ever  increasing  part  in  political 
affairs.  There  was  no  chance  that  they  would  again  put  up 
with  nominations  by  a  Congressional  caucus;  for  they  thought 
that  they  could  select  candidates  as  well  as  vote  for  them.  In 
1831  a  national  nomination  convention  was  held  by  a  party 
known  as  the  Anti-Masonic  party,  and  the  other  parties  fol- 
lowe.d  that  method  of  nomination.  It  is  an  interesting  and  im- 

1  Jackson  and  Clay  together,  both  Westerners,  though  strongly  opposed, 
received  more  votes  than  the  other  two. 

2  See  Constitution,  Amendment  XII. 


280 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


End  of  era  of 
good  feeling. 


portant  fact  that  this  method — the  introduction  of  a  represen 
tative  convention — was  thought  to  take  the  power  of  nomina 
tion  and  direction  out  of  the  hands  of  a  few  political  leaders  and 
put  it  into  the  hands  of  the  main  body  of  the  party;  we  know 
now  that  the  convention  system  was  net  entirely  a  success,  and 
as  years  went  by  the  convention  was  to  be  attacked  as  vicious 
and  corrupt1 — as  a  means  whereby  a  few  political  leaders  could 
proclaim  nomination  rather  than  act  as  the  agents  of  the  people. 
This  struggle  over  the  nominating  system  was  a  struggle  to 
realize  popular  government;  no  people  can  control  their  govern 
ment  unless  they  can  determine  for  themselves  who  shall  be 
nominated  as  candidates,  as  well  as  what  candidates  shall  be 
elected. 

The  "  era  of  good  feeling  "  was 
at  an  end.  There  had  been  more 
or  less  ill  feeling  all 
the  time.  Political 
questions  had  often 
been  bitterly  discussed,  and  per 
sonal  animus  had  often  taken  the 
place  of  political  principle.  As 
yet,  however,  parties  with  princi 
ples  were  not  formed;  for  some 
years  after  this  men  spoke  of 
"Jackson  men"  and  "Adams 
men".  But  the  elements  of  party 
organization  were  at  hand,  and 
out  of  the  bitterness  of  personal 
contests  parties  with  principles 
were  sure  soon  to  arise. 

John  Quincy  Adams  was  worthy  of  the  office  bestowed  on 
him.     He  had  been  for  thirty  years  in  public  life.     He  had  been 
foreign  minister,  senator,  and,   during  Monroe's 
administrations,  Secretary  of  State.     His  charac 
ter  was  beyond  reproach.    He  was  scrupulously 

1  See  in  later  chapters  the  account  of  the  introduction  of  the  "direct 
primary". 


9. 


John  Quincy 
Adams. 


PARTY  REORGANIZATION  281 

honest,  his  straightforwardness  amounting  to  bluntness.  Though 
he  was  ambitious,  he  was  not  meanly  self-seeking,  and  he  de 
voted  himself  untiringly  and  unselfishly  to  the  duties  of  his 
office.  He  was  not  actuated  by  petty  motive,  and  never  con 
sented  to  make  use  of  improper  means  to  secure  power  or  influ 
ence.  Able  as  well  as  honest,  he  was  one  of  the  best  officers  that 
ever  served  a  people.  High-minded  himself,  he  demanded 
purity  in  others,  and  his  caustic  criticism  of  the  motives  and  acts 
of  his  fellows  often  estranged  those  whom  he  might  have  won 
as  his  friends.  He  was  formal  and  cold  in  his  manners,  and 
had  no  great  tact  or  talent  as  a  political  leader. 

Adams  made  Clay  his  Secretary  of  State.    It  was  a  natural 
choice;  for  the  two  men  thought  alike  on  political  issues,  and 
Clay  certainly  merited  the  distinction.     But  the 
corruption          appointment  gave  countenance  to  those  who  as 
serted  that,  by  making  promise  of  the  secretary 
ship,  Adams  had  secured  his  own  election.     The  charge  was 
utterly  unfounded;  but  it  was  believed  by  many,  and  had  no 
little  effect  on  the  public  mind.     Throughout  the  administra 
tion,  the  friends  of  Jackson  proclaimed  without  ceasing  that  the 
" people's  candidate"  had  been  defrauded  of  his  rights.1 

There  was  much  personal  bitterness  during  these  four  years. 
The  people  were  divided  into  "Adams  men"  and  "Jackson 
men".  Yet  the  elements  of  distinct  political  par- 
ties  w^^  real  Prmciples  were  clearly  enough  in 
existence,  and  Adams,  both  by  selecting  the 
founder  of  the  "American  system"2  as  his  Secretary  of  State, 
and  by  favoring  in  his  first  message  a  broad  and  liberal  policy 

1  John  Randolph,  a  master  of  malicious  abuse,  referred  to  the  "corrupt 
coalition  between  the  Puritan  and  blackleg",  and  called  the  administra 
tion   a    "puritanic-diplomatic-blacklegged   administration".      Clay    chal 
lenged  him  to  a  duel,  and  a  meeting  occurred.    Neither  was  injured.    Ben- 
ton  records  the  affair,  and  ends:  "On  Monday  the  parties  exchanged  cards 
and  social  relations  were  .   .   .  restored.     It  was  about  the  last  high-toned 
duel  that  I  have  witnessed,  and  among  the  highest  toned  that  I  have  ever 
witnessed".    Fortunately  we  have  outgrown  that  condition  of  society. 

2  Clay  had  favored  a  protective  tariff,  a  real  "American  system",  as 
he  called  it. 


282  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

for  the  National  Government  actually  announced  the  begin 
nings  of  a  new  party.  The  message  advocated  appropriations 
for  roads  and  canals,  and  advised  the  establishment  of  a  national 
university  and  the  creation  of  an  astronomical  observatory — 
"a  lighthouse  of  the  skies".  Such  words  naturally  antagonized 
many  who  were  averse  to  such  appropriations.  Adams  and 
others  did  not  see  the  situation.  They  did  not  see  that  the  old 
party  was  torn  asunder,  and  that  two  new  parties  were  at  hand; 
they  considered  the  differing  factions  as  wings  of  the  old  Repub 
lican  party.  Except  by  making  a  clear  statement  of  principles, 
nothing  was  done  by  the  President  to  organize  an  Administra 
tion  party.  The  friends  of  liberal  construction  and  of  the  tariff 
formed  slowly  around  Clay  as  their  leader,  rather  than  around 
Adams,  and  began  before  1828  to  call  themselves  "National 
Republicans".  The  strict-constructionists  called  themselves 
Democratic  Republicans,  and  before  many  years  were  commonly 
known  as  Democrats. 

Owing  to  a  number  of  causes,  a  good  many  persons  joined 
the  party  opposed  to  the  Administration,  not  because  they  ob 
jected  to  internal  improvements  or  like  measures, 
characteristics  kut  Decause  they  disliked  Adams  and  liked  Jack 
son.  So  this  party,  which  included  the  strict-con 
structionists,  was  for  some  time  uncertain  of  its  own  policy. 
Indeed,  the  exact  views  of  Jackson  himself  were  uncertain. 
Through  these  years  many  persons  summed  up  their  political 
creed  in  the  war-cry  " Hurrah  for  Jackson"!  and  it  proved  in 
itself  an  unanswerable  argument.  And  yet,  although  at  first 
the  party  of  opposition,  as  such  parties  are  apt  to  be,  was  some 
what  uncertain  in  its  beliefs  and  fundamental  principles,  and 
contained  a  number  of  incoherent  elements,  nevertheless  the 
differing  factions  of  the  old  Republican  party  were,  before  the 
next  election,  formed  into  parties,  each  with  its  own  character 
istics  and  natural  tendencies.  The  national  Republican  party 
was  similar  in  some  respects  to  the  old  Federalists;  but  it  cast 
away,  as  unsuited  to  American  politics,  the  exclusive,  superior 
tone  which  had  characterized  the  followers  of  Hamilton.  The 
people  at  large  were  appealed  to  by  both  parties;  but  the  natural 


PARTY  REORGANIZATION  283 

enthusiasm  for  Jackson,  "the  man  of  the  people",  called  into 
the  ranks  of  the  opposition  the  masses  of  the  people  and  made 
it  a  real  democratic  party. 

Adams'  administration  of  four  years  (1825-1829)  was  not  a 
time  of  great  achievement,  though  the  President  managed  the 
affairs  of  the  government  wisely  and  well.  He  was  all  the  time 
harassed  by  opposition  in  Congress;  and  thousands,  insisting 
that  the  will  of  the  people  had  been  violated  in  1824,  looked 
forward  to  the  next  election  when  they  could  make  good  their 
claims  and  put  Jackson  in  the  White  House. 

Few  matters  could  be  taken  up  in  those  days  without  sec 
tional  dispute  or  some  kind  of  personal  or  party  difference. 
Internal  improvements  were  loudly  demanded  by 

imp^ments.      the  men  °f  the  nCW  West  and  ^  SOme  °f  the  EaSt> 

ern  men;  but  the  South  had  come  to  look  with 
suspicion  on  the  expenditure  of  money  for  things  which  appeared 
to  enrich  only  the  commercial  States  of  the  north  and  from 
which  she  received  no  returns.  Something  was  done  in  the  way 
of  building  and  improving  roads,  and  money  was  appropriated  for 
the  bettering  of  harbors.  But  all  such  steps  were  taken  in  the 
face  of  opposition  and  distrust.  While  men  were  thus  bickering 
over  the  old  subject  of  roads  and  canals,  and  while  the  States 
were  here  and  there  making  improvements  of  importance,  it 
became  evident  that  a  new  means  of  transportation  was  at 
hand — the  railroad. 

Horse  railroads  had  been  in  use  for  some  little  time,  and  va 
rious  efforts  had  been  made  both  in  this  country  and  in  England 

The  railroad  to  use  steam  as  a  motive  force.1  As  early  as  1814 
George  Stephenson,  an  Englishman,  invented  a 
"traveling  engine",  which  he  named  "My  Lord".  Some  years 
later  (1825)  the  Stockton  and  Darlington  Railway  was  opened, 
and  Stephenson  acted  as  engineer  on  a  trial  trip  of  his  new  loco- 

1  The  earliest  roads  were  built  with  wooden  rails,  and  afterward  these 
were  covered  with  bands  or  strips  of  iron.  Horses  furnished  the  motive 
power.  The  first  road  of  this  kind  seems  to  have  been  built  as  early  as  1807, 
in  Boston.  The  first  steam  locomotive  used  in  this  country  was  brought 
from  England  in  1829,  and  was  called  the  "Stourbridge  Lion". 


284 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


motive.  The  success  of  this  enterprise  encouraged  the  building 
of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway.  On  this  line  (1829) 
Stephenson  tried  the  "  Rocket ",  which  sped  away  at  the  astound 
ing  pace  of  twenty-nine  miles  an  hour.  "Canal  property  is 
ruined",  wrote  a  correspondent  from  London;  "in  fact  they  are 
even  anticipating  that  it  may  be  necessary  to  let  the  canals  dry 
and  to  lay  rails  on  them". 

BOSTON  AND  WORCESTER    RAIL  ROAD. 7 


THE  Passenger  Cars  will  continue  lo  run  daily  from  the 
Drpol  near  Washington  street,  to  Newton,  at  6  and 
10  o'clock,  A.M.  and  at  3»  o'clock,  P.  M.  and 

Returning,  leave  Newion  at  1  and  a-quartcr  past  II,  A.M. 
and  a  quarter  before  5,  P.M. 

Tickets  Tor  the  passape  either  way  may  be  had  at  the 
Ticket  Office,  No.Gl7,  Washington  street  ;  price  3 74  cents 
each  ;  and  lor  the  return  passage,  of  the  Master  of  the  Car  3, 
Newton. 

By  order  ofthe  President  and  Directors. 

a  29  epistf  F.  A   WILLIAMS,  Clerk. 


Railroads  in 
America. 


ADVERTISEMENT  OF  THE  FIRST  PASSENGER  TRAIN  IN  MASSACHUSETTS, 
MAY,  1834 

Meantime  inventors  and  capitalists  were  at  work  in  America. 
Indeed,  the  success  of  the  Stockton  and  Darlington  Railway 
seems  to  have  produced  a  greater  impression  on 
this  side  of  the  water  than  in  England.  New 
York  was  already  reaping  the  benefit  of  the  Erie 
Canal,  but  the  cities  farther  south  were  still  without  easy  means 
of  communication  with  the  West,  and  both  Baltimore  and  Phila 
delphia  seem  to  have  felt  the  loss  of  Western  trade,  which  was 
now  deflected  to  New  York.  A  railroad  was  determined  upon, 
and  in  1827  a  charter  was  issued  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
road.  July  4,  1828,  work  was  actually  begun,  the  first  act  being 
done  by  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  the  only  living  signer 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  He  is  said  to  have  ex- 


PARTY  REORGANIZATION  285 

claimed:  "I  consider  this  among  the  most  important  acts  of  my 
life,  second  only  to  that  of  signing  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  if  second  to  that ".  Two  years  later  a  short  section 
of  this  road  was  opened  for  traffic.  In  South  Carolina,  too,  a 
road  was  built  running  from  Charleston  to  Hamburg,  and  in 
1833  this  road  was  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles  in  length, 
then  the  longest  road  in  the  world. 

In  1840  there  were  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighteen 
miles  of  railroad  in  operation,  and  as  the  years  went  by  the 
mileage  increased.  But  no  one  in  those  early  years  could  foresee 
the  immense  development  of  railroads,  and  the  great  changes 
they  were  to  make  in  the  life  of  the  nation.  The  first  lines  con 
nected  neighboring  cities,  or  furnished  outlets  from  the  coal 


RAILWAY  TRAVEL  IN  1831 

regions  to  the  sea;  but  in  time  the  long  trunk  lines  were  con 
structed,  stretching  across  the  country,  binding  the  land  to 
gether  into  an  industrial  unit.  Wherever  men  are  gathered 
together,  there  the  railroad  now  goes  to  serve  them,  ready  to 
carry  the  products  of  their  toil  to  market  and  to  bring  back 
what  they  wish  in  exchange.1 

The  political  significance  of  the  railroad  was  almost  as  great 
as  its  social  and  industrial  significance.  The  East  and  West 
were  made  one;  the  strong  ties  of  commercial  in- 
terest  and  the  fellowship  of  social  communication 
bound  the  States  of  the  coast  to  their  younger 
sisters  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  old  saying  that  a  free 
government  could  not  exist  over  a  wide  expanse  of  territory  was 

1  An  admirable  short  essay  on  the  railroads  and  their  functions  in  Sha- 
ler's  The  United  States  of  America,  vol.  ii,  pp.  65-131. 


286  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

bereft  of  meaning,  for,  as  the  railroads  were  built  into  the  West 
Michigan  and  Illinois  became  the  next-door  neighbors  of  Massa 
chusetts  and  Connecticut. 

One  of  the  most  serious  difficulties  with  which  Adams  had 
to  deal  arose  out  of  troubles  between  Georgia  and  the  Indian 
tribes  within  her  borders.  For  some  years  Georgia  had  been 

anxious  to  get  possession  of  the  land  of  the 
the°!ndiajis.  Creek  and  Cherokee  Indians  within  the  limits  of 

that  State.  These  tribes  were  already  civilized. 
The  Cherokees  especially  were  well  advanced.  They  had 
churches,  schools,  and  courts  of  law,  and  had  well-tilled  fields 
and  comfortable  homes.  The  presence  of  such  independent 
bodies  within  the  State,  not  subject  to  its  laws,  was  unnat 
ural.  Georgia  desired  the  Indians'  lands,  and  was  not  will 
ing  to  wait.  She  demanded  the  immediate  removal  of  the 
tribes  beyond  the  Mississippi.  A  treaty  was  made  by  the 
National  Government  providing  for  the  sale  of  most  of  the 
land  of  the  Creeks.  But  Georgia  would  not  wait  until  the  time 
came  for  carrying  out  the  treaty.  State  surveyors  were  ordered 
into  the  territory  of  the  Creeks.  The  President  forbade  the 
survey.1  At  first  the  State  obeyed,  but  finally  became  very 
impatient.  The  Governor  announced  the  doctrine  of  State  sov 
ereignty,  and  asserted  that  the  State  had  an  equal  authority 
with  the  United  States  "to  pass  upon  its  rights  ".  Adams  was 
prepared  to  protect  the  Indians  in  their  property,  and  ordered 
the  United  States  District  Attorney  and  the  marshal  to  arrest 
any  one  endeavoring  to  survey  the  Indian  lands  west  of  a  cer 
tain  line.  The  Governor  prepared  for  resistance,  and  ordered 
the  militia  officers  of  the  State  to  be  in  readiness  with  their 
forces  to  repel  invasion.  The  majority  in  Congress  were  op 
posed  to  Adams  and  did  not  wish  to  support  him,  and  he  hesi 
tated,  naturally,  to  bring  on  civil  war  on  such  an  issue.  The 
Creeks  were  soon  compelled  to  leave  their  lands.  About  the 

1  Indian  affairs  have  always  been  under  the  control  of  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment.  Congress  is  given  power  to  regulate  commerce  with  Indian  tribes. 
See  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  vii,  §  3.  Moreover,  the  Creeks  and  the  Federal 
Government  had  entered  into  treaties. 


PARTY  REORGANIZATION  287, 

same  time  encroachments  were  made  upon  the  Cherokee  terri 
tory,  and  the  final  outcome  was  much  the  same  as  in  the  case 
of  the  Creeks.  Georgia  successfully  maintained  her  "sovereign- 
ty".' 

Of  course  the  tariff  caused  trouble  during  these  years;  when 
has  it  not?  Unprotected  interests,  sections  that  appeared  to  reap 

nothing  but  higher  prices,  manufacturers  who 
Ig2e  l  wanted  higher  rates  to  keep  out  foreign  goods  or 

enable  them  to  charge  more  for  their  own — all 
might  find  good  ground  for  dispute  over  the  tariff.  The  home- 
market  argument  was  now  used  effectively  by  those  who  wanted 
to  build  up  American  factories;  thus  even  the  farmers  were 
urged  to  support  the  tariff  in  order  to  make  an  American  market 
for  the  products  of  the  farm.  In  1824  a  new  protective  tariff 
bill  was  passed.  It  was  favored  mainly  by  the  Middle  States 
and  the  West  north  of  the  Ohio;  it  was  opposed  by  an  almost 
solid  South  and  by  part  of  New  England.  The  Southerners 
objected  because  it  meant  to  them  higher  prices  for  factory- 
made  goods.  The  men  of  New  England,  Webster  for  example, 
opposed  it  because  it  acted  as  a  check  on  commerce. 

But  the  bill  of  1824  was  not  enough;  the  manufacturers — like 
Oliver  Twist — comforted  with  a  little,  wanted  more;  they  wanted 

higher  duties  and  more  protection.     In  1828  a  bill 

for  the  purpose  was  introduced.  All  the  interests 
i8°8Un<  °f  the  country  began  at  once  to  push  and  scramble 

for  recognition.  The  result  was  what  is  commonly 
known  as  the  "tariff  of  abominations".  It  was  an  "economic 
monstrosity".  The  rate  of  duty  on  many  articles,  including  raw 
materials  for  manufactures,  was  very  high.  So  much  had  the 
coming  presidential  election  been  kept  in  view,  that  John  Ran- 

1  This  trouble  with  Georgia  has  its  political  significance  in  the  fact  that 
the  State  maintained,  in  some  measure,  its  authority  against  the  Govern 
ment.  It  is  also  significant  as  an  episode  in  the  process  of  transferring  the 
Indians  to  reservations  in  the  West.  The  plan  of  confining  them  to  reser 
vations  was  fully  carried  out  in  the  course  of  the  century.  During  Jackson's 
administration  the  Cherokee  lands  were  occupied,  and  Georgia  success 
fully  defied  the  authority  of  the  Federal  court.  See  Schouler,  History,  vol. 
iv,  pp.  233-235;  Sumner,  Andrew  Jackson,  pp.  180-183. 


288  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

dolph  declared  in  a  biting  phrase,  "The  bill  referred  to  manu 
factures  of  no  sort  or  kind  except  the  manufacture  of  a  President 
of  the  United  States".  l 

The  South  had  now  become  bitterly  opposed  to  a  tariff.  It 
seemed  to  enrich  the  Northerner,  and  to  make  the  Southerner 
pay  an  enhanced  price  for  all  the  goods  which  he 
tSo°?he  3ff  6d  bought.  There  were  at  the  South  no  factories,  or 
nearly  none;  the  people  therefore  did  not  seek  pro 
tection.  Randolph  said  that  the  bill  was  intended  "to  rob  and 
plunder  one  half  of  the  Union  for  the  benefit  of  the  residue". 
South  Carolina  protested  against  the  law,  asserting  that  it  was 
unconstitutional,  and  an  abuse  of  power  incompatible  with  free 
government.  "The  interests  of  South  Carolina",  she  said,  "are 
agricultural,  and  to  cut  off  her  foreign  market  and  to  confine  her 
products  to  an  inadequate  home  market  is  to  reduce  her  to  pov 
erty".  The  defenders  of  the  American  system  argued  that  the 
South  derived  a  benefit  from  the  fact  that  the  tariff  made  a 
home  market,  and  thus  brought  a  market  nearer  to  the  cotton 
States,  and  therefore  increased  the  price  of  cotton.  But  the 
planters  did  not  admit  the  truth  or  force  of  this  argument. 

Because  of  the  President's  advocacy  of  internal  improve 
ments,  and  because  of  the  passage  of  the  tariff  bill,  for  which  the 
National  Republicans  were  largely  responsible,  a 
strong  and  united  opposition  was  formed  against 
Adams  before  the  end  of  his  administration.  The 
South  was  a  unit  against  him,  and  the  foes  of  internal  improve 
ments  at  the  North  were  opposed  to  his  policy.  Moreover, 
Jackson  was  everywhere  hailed  as  the  people's  friend,  the  man 
of  the  common  people,  while  Adams  was  denounced  as  an  aris 
tocrat,  who  felt  himself  above  the  ordinary  man.  There  was 
an  outburst  of  popular  enthusiasm  for  the  "hero  of  New  Or 
leans".  Now  it  must  be  noted  that  since  the  beginning  of  the 
Government  the  high  offices  of  state  had  been  in  the  hands  of 
trained  statesmen,  and  the  presidency  had  been  given  to  men 
of  learning  and  experience.  But  in  1828  the  people  had  grown 

1  Webster  now  favored  the  tariff,  claiming  that  New  England  factories 
had  been  built  up  on  that  basis. 


PARTY  REORGANIZATION  289 

confident — overconfident — and  ready  to  resent  the  insinuation 
that  they  needed  educated  or  experienced  statesmen  to  lead 
them  or  show  them  the  way.  The  West,  which  was  enthusi 
astic  for  Jackson,  was  accustomed  to  give  its  allegiance  to  a 
downright  forcible  character  like  "Old  Hickory",  who  had  suc 
ceeded  in  what  he  had  undertaken,  and  had  whipped  the  British 
and  the  Indians  with  equal  thoroughness  and  skill.  And  so 
Adams  found  strong  support  only  in  the  Northeast,  and  there  he 
was  defended  by  the  more  conservative  elements  of  society,  who 
dreaded  what  they  considered  a  democratic  upheaval  and 
feared  the  election  of  a  new  and  untried  man  to  the  presidency. 
Richard  Rush,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  the  candidate  of  the  Na 
tional  Republicans  for  Vice-President.  Calhoun  held  second 
place  on  the  Jackson  ticket.  Jackson  received  one  hundred  and 
seventy-eight  electoral  votes,  while  Adams  received  only  eighty- 
three.  The  popular  vote  of  the  National  Republicans  was  large, 
however,  and  this  showed  that  a  strong  conservative  party  was 
in  existence. 

REFERENCES 

HART,  Contemporaries,  Volume  III,  pp.  561-567;  HART,  Formation 
of  the  Union,  Chapter  XII;  BURGESS,  The  Middle  Period,  Chapters 
VI-VII;  SCHURZ,  Henry  Clay,  Volume  I,  Chapters  IX-XI;  MORSE 
John  Quincy  Adams,  pp.  148-214;  SUMNER,  Andrew  Jackson,  Chapter 
£V-V.  Longer  accounts:  MCMASTER,  Volume  V,  pp.  55-267, 
433-536;  SCHOULER,  Volume  III,  pp.  262-270,  304-450;  TURNER, 
Rise  of  the  New  West,  Chapters  XIII,  XV-XIX;  MCDONALD,  Jack- 
sonian  Democracy,  Chapter  III. 


CHAPTER  XVI 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA— THE  TASKS  OF  A  NEW  SELF- 
CONSCIOUS  DEMOCRACY 

Andrew  Jackson  is  one  of  the  most  striking  figures  in  Amer 
ican  history,  and  few  persons  have  played  a  more  important 
part.     He  was  born  in  South  Carolina  in  1767,  of 
Jackson  sturdy  Scotch-Irish  stock.     When  he  was  twenty- 

one  he  moved  to  Nashville.  He  studied  law,  and 
when  Tennessee  was  admitted  to  the  Union  he  became  the  first 
representative  from  the  State  in  Congress.  Soon  afterwards  he 

became  senator,  but  held  the  posi 
tion  only  a  short  time.  "When  I 
was  President  of  the  Senate", 
wrote  Jefferson  at  a  later  time, 
"he  was  a  senator,  and  he  could 
never  speak  on  account  of  the 
rashness  of  his  feelings.  I  have 
seen  him  attempt  it  repeatedly, 
and  as  often  choke  with  rage". 
Until  the  outbreak  of  the  War  ot 
1812  Jackson  was  most  of  the 
time  in  private  life,  not  in  pub 
lic  office.  His  surroundings 
were  those  of  a  rough  frontier 
community,  and  we  read  of  his 
taking  part  in  duels  and  quarrels 
that  were  typical  of  the  crude  life  of  the  young  and  energetic 
Southwest  of  those  days.  For  it  can  not  be  denied  that,  with 
much  that  was  sound  and  wholesome,  there  was  a  good  deal  that 
was  rude  and  boisterous  in  the  life  of  these  new  States  beyond 

290 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA  291 

the  mountains.  Jackson,  in  his  downrightness  and  uprightness, 
in  his  promptness  to  resent  an  insult  and  to  fight  in  obedience 
to  the  code  of  honor,  was  a  true  son  of  his  surroundings.  His 
early  career  taught  him  to  love  his  friends  and  to  hate  his  ene 
mies.  In  the  War  of  1812  he  fought  with  characteristic  bravery 
and  energy,  showing  many  of  the  qualities  of  skillful  generalship. 
In  the  Seminole  War  (1818-1819)  he  crushed  the  hostile  Indians 
of  the  South  and  won  new  renown.  He  was  a  man  of  perfect 
honesty,  and  his  motives  were  good;  he  had  a  warm  heart,  a 
quick  temper,  and  the  faculty  of  winning  men  and  of  making 
them  love  him,  and,  though  his  powers  were  in  a  measure  un 
disciplined,  he  had  unusual  mental  vigor.  The  counselors  and 
friends  who  surrounded  him  when  he  was  President  never  hid 
him  from  view;  he  stood  always  clearly  out  before  the  people. 
His  greatest  weakness  lay  in  the  fact  that  designing  men,  his 
friends,  could  play  upon  his  prejudices,  and  through  his  iron  will 
accomplish  their  own  objects. 

Jackson  was  elected  in  1828  because  he  was  looked  upon  as 
a  candidate  of  the  common  people,  while  Adams  was  declared 
to  be  an  aristocrat  without  sympathy  for  the 
masses;  it  was  said,  too,  that  Jackson  had  been 
defrauded  of  his  just  rights  in  1824.  His  election 
marks  an  era  in  our  politics  for  many  reasons:  he  was  the  first 
man  chosen  from  the  new  West;  he  was  the  first  man  elected 
President  who  had  not  already  acquired  wide  knowledge  and 
experience  in  public  affairs.  The  election  of  this  self-made  man, 
who  was  put  forward  as  "a  man  of  the  people",  shows  that  in 
the  development  of  American  life  the  people  had  reached  a  stage 
of  self-confidence,  feeling  no  need  of  trained  experts  in  statesman 
ship,  and  desiring  only  some  one  who  would  fulfill  their  behests. 
Perhaps  they  were  overconfident,  and  there  was  certainly  some 
thing  wrong  in  their  antagonism  to  an  experienced  man  like 
Adams  on  the  ground  that  he  was  an  aristocrat,  for  it  is  not 
undemocratic  to  place  in  public  office  the  best  of  trained  ser 
vants;  but,  nevertheless,  in  the  growth  of  a  popular  state  like  the 
United  States  it  is  only  reasonable  to  expect  that  the  people 
will  come  to  see  their  power  and  use  it;  and  only  when  they 


292  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

know  their  power  can  they  feel  the  full  responsibilities  of 
citizenship. 

Up  to  the  time  of  Jackson's  accession  to  the  presidency  na 
tional  office-holders  were  removed  only  for  inefficiency  or  dis 
honesty.  Adams  removed  only  two  men  in  his 
whole  term,  and  these  not  for  political  reasons. 
Although  a  strong  party  was  arrayed  against  him, 
he  refused  to  use  public  office  to  reward  his  friends.  Now, 
Jackson  was  fully  persuaded  that  the  office-holders  who  had 
held  their  places  under  Adams  were  a  corrupt  lot,  for  by  tem 
perament  he  looked  upon  all  who  were  not  his  friends  as  his 
enemies,  and,  moreover,  he  believed  that  the  Adams  adminis 
tration  was  begotten  by  fraud,  and  that  none  who  participated 
in  it  merited  consideration.  In  some  of  the  States  the  practice 
of  using  public  office  as  a  reward  to  political  friends  was  already 
fully  established.  Influenced  by  men  that  had  been  used  to  this 
practice,  and  hearing  the  outcry  against  aristocratic  office 
holders,  Jackson  began  the  removal  of  men  who  were  opposed 
to  him  in  politics  and  filled  their  places  with  his  followers.1 
Thus  was  introduced  into  the  national  administration  the  "spoils 
system",2  in  accordance  with  which  a  person  was  given  employ- 
ployment  in  the  public  service  rot  because  he  was  competent 
and  trained  for  his  duties,  but  because  he  was  a  faithful  partisan. 
Jackson  was  honest  and  patriotic,  but  he  was  instrumental  in 

1  There  were  more  men  removed  from  office  in  the  first  few  months  of 
Jackson's  administration  than  in  the  forty  years  preceding. 

2  These  words  seem  to  have  been  adopted  from  a  speech  made  by  W.  L. 
Marcy  in  the  Senate  in  1831.    "It  may  be,  sir,  that  the  politicians  of  New 
York  are  not  so  fastidious  as  some  gentlemen  are  as  to  disclosing  the  prin 
ciples  on  which  they  act.  .  .  .  They  see  nothing  wrong  in  the  rule  that  to 
the  victor  belong  the  spoils  of  the  enemy".    The  spoils  system  was  in  part 
the  natural  product  of  Western  democracy;  men,  brought  up  in  the  simple 
conditions  of  frontier  life,  naturally  had  no  particular  sympathy  with  the 
notion  that  there  was  need  of  education  or  experience  for  public  office. 
The  man  whom  the  Westerners  admired  was  the  self-made  man,  who  had 
succeeded  in  business  or  politics.    In  part,  the  spoils  system  was  the  prod 
uct  of  intense,  aggressive  party  strife;  the  offices  were  to  be  used  as  a  reward 
for  party  work,  a  means  of  financing  the  party.     See  "  Spoils  System  "  in 
Mclaughlin  and  Hart,  Cyclopedia  of  American  Government. 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA  293 

establishing  this  system,  which  has  had  a  most  harmful  influence 
upon  the  character  of  our  national  politics.1 

These  were  years  of  great  development  and  progress,  as  well 
as  times  of  heated  political  controversy.     The  spirit  of  the  na 
tion  was  fully  awake;  if  we  have  thought  that  we 
America.  could  see  before  this  time  the  real  America,  the 

land  of  opportunity  and  of  active  energy,  the  land 
where  man  unrepressed  by  class  systems  and  social  prejudices 
could  move  onward  and  upward  and  where  each  could  find  the 
place  his  own  energy  and  merit  entitled  him  to — if  we  have 
thought  in  our  study  that  we  have  seen  the  real  America  before, 
we  must  realize,  when  we  come  to  Jackson's  term,  that  the  past 
had  been  only  a  preparation.  All  the  ruthless  energy,  the  deter 
mination  and  the  eager  self  confidence  of  a  young  and  buoyant 
nation  now  showed  themselves  in  politics,  in  literature,  in  busi 
ness  activity,  in  the  daily  life  of  the  people. 

If  the  cruder  signs  of  American  life  showed  themselves  in  a 
scramble  for  office  and  in  intense  political  controversy,  that  was 
not  all;  there  were  signs  of  awakened  intellectual 
literature.  interest.  American  literature  was  entering  upon  a 
new  and  brilliant  career.  Washington  Irving  had 
already  achieved  fame  by  his  chaste  and  picturesque  tales  and 
sketches.  Cooper  was  writing  his  novels  of  the  sea  and  wilder 
ness,  and  Poe  was  beginning  to  give  out  his  weird  stories  and  his 
pure  and  delicate  verses.  Hawthorne,  born  in  Salem,  in  the 
very  midst  of  Puritan  tradition,  was  starting  upon  his  career  as 
the  romancer  of  mystery  and  of  Puritanic  faith  and  superstition. 

1  It  is  an  amusing  and  significant  picture  that  we  get  of  Jackson's  inaug 
uration,  after  the  retirement  of  the  sedate  Adams.  People  rushed  to  the 
White  House,  crowded  into  the  drawing  rooms,  upset  the  ices  and  the  tubs 
of  punch,  stood  with  muddy  boots  on  the  fine  furniture — and  acted  gener 
ally  as  if  they  wanted  the  best  and  much  of  it.  Surely  that  wasn't  democ 
racy;  surely  that  was  not  the  real  expression  of  the  sense  and  good  manners 
of  the  men  of  the  time.  But  that  unmannerly  crowd,  which  we  refuse  to 
consider  representative  of  the  great  body  of  the  people,  did  show  in  its 
very  extravagance  of  rudeness  the  feeling  that  the  people  had  come  into 
their  own,  and,  if  the  hungry  ones  wanted  ice  cream  and  cake,  many 
another  wanted  office;  they  hungered  for  spofls. 
20 


294  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

His  terse,  simple,  harmonious  style  proved  that  clear  and  sweet 
English  prose  could  be  written  outside  the  British  Isles.  Emer 
son  was  just  beginning  his  essays  on  the  homely  practical  phi 
losophy  of  life,  and  Longfellow  the  finely  finished  poems  that 
have  placed  him  at  the  head  of  American  poets.  In  oratory  the 
Americans  easily  outstripped  any  English  competitors  of  that 
generation.  Webster's  speeches  were  great  and  pure  and  sim 
ple;  Edward  Everett  uttered  polished  periods,  turned  and  fitted 
with  delicate  care.  Clay's  fiery  eloquence  and  Calhoun's  cold 
reasoning  always  had  something  artistic  about  them.  In  the 
writing  of  history,  too,  American  authors  were  showing  talent. 
Bancroft  began  the  publication  of  his  great  work,  the  final  re 
vision  of  which  did  not  appear  until  forty  years  later.  Prescott 
published  in  1838  his  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  the  earliest  of  his 
charming  volumes  on  Spain  and  the  Spaniards  of  the  New  World. 
The  American  inventive  spirit,  which  had  showed  itself  in 
the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  and  the  steamboat,  was  now 
manifest  in  many  new  labor-saving  devices.  One 
Open-minded-  was  the  McCormick  reaper,  another  the  steam  ham- 
ness  and  T-  •  •  •  T 
progress.  mer.  T  nction  matches  were  coming  into  use.  In 

1837  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse  applied  for  a  patent  for 
sending  messages  by  electricity;  he  did  not  succeed  till  some 
years  later  (1843)  m  getting  money  to  make  a  practical  and  con- 


REPRODUCTTON  OF  THE  FIRST  TELEGRAPHIC  MESSAGE  SENT  BY  THE  MORSE 
SYSTEM,  Now  PRESERVED  AT  HARVARD  COLLEGE 

vincing  test,  but  when  that  was  done  men  realized  that  a  new 
world  had  come;  space  was  annihilated;  with  the  growth  of  the 
telegraph  all  parts  of  the  country  could  be  bound  together;  all 
the  people  of  the  land  could  know  what  happened  in  the  re 
motest  corner.  In  1838  steamboats  began  to  make  trips  across 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA  295 

the  Atlantic.  About  the  same  time  the  process  of  smelting  iron 
with  anthracite  coal  and  the  hot-air  blast  was  put  into  success 
ful  operation,  the  beginning  of  that  great  industry  in  the 
United  States.  The  great  natural  resources  of  the  land  were 
now  being  seized  upon,  the  beginning  of  the  effort  which  in 
later  years  was  to  bring  immense  fortunes  and  bring,  in  their 
train,  industrial  and  social  problems  of  great  perplexity.  This 
country  offered  a  welcome  asylum  for  men  of  energy  or  of  in 
ventive  power,  for  no  device  was  rejected  because  of  its  novelty. 
This  same  open-mindedness  and  this  eagerness  for  progress 
showed  themselves  in  the  establishment  of  new  wide-awake 
newspapers.  More  important  still,  the  public-school  system 
was  widened  and  popularized;  men  felt  that  every  boy  and  girl 
should  have  a  chance  to  learn  as  well  as  to  gain  wealth. 

The  Jacksonian  era  was  a  time  when  great  characteristics  of 
the  nineteenth  century  seemed  to  burst  forth  into  view.  The 
intensity  of  national  life  seemed  to  show  itself  free 
from  restraint,  and,  although  there  was  doubtless 
teenth  century,  a  fantastic  extravagance,  in  these  very  exaggera 
tions  one  can  see  with  special  clearness  certain 
qualities  that  mark  the  line  of  growth  along  which  the 
nation  was  moving.  ,  The  development  of  the  public- 
school  system  came  doubtless  from  a  feeling  of  public 
duty,  from  a  realization  of  the  essential  unity  of  the 
people,  and  from  a  comprehension  of  the  fact  that  a  demo 
cratic  government  was  safe  only  in  the  hands  of  an  edu 
cated  people.  But  while  the  century  was  marked  by  the 
growth  of  knowledge  and  by  the  popularizing  of  education,  it 
was  marked  still  more,  perhaps,  by  the  widening  and  deep 
ening  of  human  sympathy  and  feeling.  The  foundation  of  the 
great  missionary  societies,  five  of  which  were  established  be 
tween  1830  and  1840,  is  an  important  evidence  of  this  develop 
ment  of  generous  feeling  for  others.  And  as  there  grew  up  in 
men's  minds  a  fuller  appreciation  of  their,  relation  to  their  fellows 
they  showed  this  appreciation  in  great  social  movements,  in 
works  of  generosity  and  charity.  One  might  expect  that  men 
in  democratic  America  would  manifest  more  clearly  than  the 


296 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


BRITISH 


people  of  Europe  this  sentiment  of  humanity;  and  such 
was  probably  the  case;  but  everywhere  in  Europe,  too,  dur 
ing  the  fourth  and  fifth  decades  of  the  century,  there  ap 
peared  these  waves  of  social  sentiment,  all  marking  the  great 

movement  of  society,  and, 
if  they  were  extreme  or 
extravagant  at  the  time, 
they  are  none  the  less 
proofs  of  the  great  motive 
force  of  the  century. 
"We  are  a  little  wild 
here",  wrote  Emerson 
from  Boston,  "with  num 
berless  projects  of  social 
reform;  not  a  leading  man 
but  has  a  draft  of  a  new 
community  in  his  waist 
coat  pocket".  The  im 
pulse  for  temperance  re 
form  which  swept  over  the 
country,  and  the  Abolition 
movement,  which  we  shall 
soon  study,  were  mani 
festations  of  this  new  social  conscience.  "A  great  wave  of 
humanity,  of  benevolence,  of  desire  for  improvement,  poured 
itself  among  all  who  had  the  faculty  of  large  and  disinterested 
thinking".1 

The  democratic  spirit  which  we  have  seen  in  the  political 
life  of  the  country  prevailed  in  society.  The  election  of  Jack 
son  simply  heralded  the  fact  that  the  people  felt 
their  power,  and  that  they  had  reached  their 
majority.  Social  distinctions  had  now  vanished  or  were  of 
little  moment.  A  spirit  of  boastfulness  was  not  lacking;  for 
men  prided  themselves  on  the  fact  that  the  United  States, 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  POPULATION  IN  1830 


Democracy. 


1  These  words  are  used  of  the  situation  in  England  in  J.  Morley,  The 
Life  of  Richard  Cobden,  p.  61.    See  also  Hinsdale,  Horace  Mann,  p.  73. 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA  297 

in  advance  of  the  world,  was  giving  an  example  of  popular  gov 
ernment,  and  they  declared  their  country  to  be  the  freest  and 
best  on  earth.  Despite  self-assertion  and  vainglory,  there  was 
much  that  was  sound  and  good  in  this  democratic  spirit;  the 
people  rudely  made  real  the  truth  that  "worth  makes  the  man, 
and  want  of  it  the  fellow" — the  true  motto  of  true  democracy. 
Men  were  hard  at  work,  for  work  was  no  disgrace  in  this  new 
country;  they  eagerly  sought  after  money,  not  for  its  own  sake, 
but  for  what  it  would  bring.  Work  was  the  common  lot  of  all 
men;  and  where  that  is  the  case  democratic  equality  has  its 
surest  foundation.1 

One  is  not  mistaken  in  attributing  this  development  of  re 
ligious,  moral,  and  mental  freedom  and  strength,  in  part  at  least, 

to   democratic  institutions,   to   the  fact  that  in 
.  America  each  man  was  given  responsibilities,  and 

taught  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  by  his  duties, 
by  the  very  political  theory  of  the  commonwealth,  to  think  for 
himself  and  to  strive  for  personal  uplift.  Out  of  this  feeling  of 
personal  responsibility  and  power  have  come  the  successful 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  the  Church  and  other  relig 
ious  institutions  upon  a  perfectly  free  and  voluntary  system, 
without  the  authority  or  interference  of  the  Government;  the 
building  up  of  the  great  free-school  system,  of  which  we  have 
spoken;  and  the  endowment  of  higher  institutions  of  learning, 
libraries,  and  museums  by  the  State  as  well  as  by  private  gen 
erosity.  All  of  these  came  from  the  free  and  unrestrained  de 
sire  of  an  intelligent  public.  We  may  well  stop  to  consider 
these  facts  while  we  are  discussing  these  profoundly  interesting 
times,  when  Andrew  Jackson,  "the  man  of  the  people",  was 
President,  and  when  in  countless  ways  energetic  men,  realizing 
in  some  measure  the  heritage  of  a  great  country  and  a 
free  government,  were  pushing  boldly  and  enthusiastically 
forward  in  the  pursuit  of  wealth  and  moral  and  intellectual 
ideals. 


1  The  society  in  America  is  discussed  in  Schouler,  History,  vol.  ii,  chap« 
viii  (1809),  and  vol.  iv,  chap,  xiii  (1831). 


29S  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

But  all  was  not  smooth  sailing  in  these  days  of  national  feel 
ing  and  of  eager  life.  The  settling  of  the  West  had  in  a  measure 
unsettled  the  East;  the  old  States  of  the  South  had  been  stand 
ing  still,  at  least  not  growing  relatively  in  population  and  in 
wealth.  The  opening  up  of  the  new  cotton  fields  of  the  interior, 
while  it  greatly  increased  the  output  of  cotton,  reduced  the  price, 
and  the  owners  of  the  old  plantations,  which  were  in  part  worn 
out,  were  ill  at  ease  and  dissatisfied.  South  Carolina  especially 
was  tried  and  troubled  as  she  saw  the  North  growing  in  wealth 
and  strength.  She  complained  bitterly  of  the  tariff,  to  which 
she  attributed  her  woes,  and  insisted  that  it  gave  Northern  manu 
facturers  the  opportunity  to  reap  benefits  at  her  expense.1  "  We 
are  mere  consumers",  declared  Calhoun,  "  the  serfs  of  the  system 
out  of  whose  labor  is  raised,  not  only  the  money  paid  into  the 
Treasury,  but  funds  out  of  which  are  drawn  the  rich  rewards  of 
the  manufacturer  and  his  associate  in  interest". 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  tariff  act  of  1828  had  hardly 
been  passed  when  some  of  the  Southern  States  began  to  show 
their  strong  dislike  of  the  protective  system.  South  Carolina 
was  foremost  in  opposition,  and  John  C.  Calhoun  was  her 
leader  and  guide.  Calhoun  had  drifted  wide  from  the  position 

Probably  the  tariff  did  bear  heavily  on  the  South  and  especially  on 
such  states  as  South  Carolina,  whose  planters  wanted  to  ship  their  cotton 
to  Europe  and  bring  back  supplies  free  of  all  necessary  duty.  But  back  of 
all  were  the  expensiveness  of  slavery  and  the  fact  that  South  Carolina  could 
not  adapt  herself  to  new  conditions.  Protection  did  not  raise  the  price 
of  cotton  or  fertilize  the  old  fields. 

Cotton  Crop  in  Million  Pounds 

YEARS  1791       1801       1811       1821       1826          1834 
The  Old  South- 
Virginia  to  Georgia 2  39          75  IX7         l8°  l6° 

The  New  South- 
Tennessee  to  Louisiana 

and  Arkansas o  i  5  60         150 .5         2975 

Price  of  Cotton. 

1816  1820  1824  1827 

nearly  30  cents  17  cents  14-75  cents  9  cents- 

See  Turner,  Rise  of  the  New  West,  pp.  47,  325. 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA 


299 


John  C. 

Calhoun. 


he  held  after  the  War  of  1812,  when  he  advocated  a  broad 
national  policy.  He  now  stood  forth  as  the  champion  of  State 
sovereignty,  and 
devoted  himself  to 
a  defence  of  sec 
tional  interests:  His  native 
state  was  restless  and  discon 
tented,  and  extremists  were 
beginning  to  threaten  disunion. 
He  continually  opposed  dis 
union;  but  outlining  the  princi 
ples  of  State  sovereignty,  which 
might  in  the  end  justify  seces 
sion,  he  put  forth  his  principles 
of  nullification,  by  which  a 
State  might,  while  still  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Union,  temporarily 
prevent  the  enforcement  of  ob 
jectionable  laws.  A  clear  and 
incisive  reasoner  and  a  fine  public  speaker,  he  had  great  influence 
upon  his  people  and,  as  years  went  by,  towered  up  as  the  leading 
figure  in  the  whole  Southland. 

Calhoun  began  in  1828  to  develop  his  theories  of  the  nature 
of  the  Union.  He  announced  that  each  State  was  wholly  sov 
ereign,  and  the  Constitution  only  an  agreement  or 
compact  between  sovereign  States;  that  each 
State  of  the  Union  was*  not  subject  to  the  Consti 
tution  as  a  superior  law,  but  retained  the  right  to  govern 
itself  wholly  if  it  so  preferred.  From  State  sovereignty  came 
the  right  of  secession;  each  State  had  the  right  to  interpret 
the  Constitution  for  itself,  and,  if  it  chose,  to  withdraw  from  the 
Union  on  the  ground  that  the  agreement  or  treaty  (the  Con 
stitution)  had  been  broken,  or  on  the  ground  that  its  interests 
were  no  longer  furthered.  In  accordance  with  this 
theory,  the  relations  between  the  various  States 
were  just  the  same  as  they  would  be  between  France,  England, 
and  Spain  if  they  should  enter  into  a  treaty  establishing  a  cen- 


State 
sovereignty. 


Secession 


300 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


and 

nullification. 


tral  agent  to  which  certain  powers  of  government  should  be 
given  for  certain  purposes;  each  of  the  three  States  would  retain 
its  full  sovereign  character,  and  would  have  the 
right  to  withdraw  from  association  with  the  others 
when  it  chose.  Nullification  meant  the  right  of 
a  State  to  declare  null  and  void  any  act  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  which  it  considered  a  breach  of  the  compact  (the  Consti 
tution);  if  the  other  States  insisted  on  upholding  the  act,  the 
aggrieved  State  would  have  the  right  to  withdraw  from  the 
Union. 1 

In  1830  Senator  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina,  gave  utterance, 
in  the  Senate,  to  the  theories  of 
State  sovereignty. 
He  was  a  man  of 
strong  parts,  and  his 
presentation  of  Calhoun's  theories 
was  forcible.  Daniel  Webster 
answered  him  in  a  great  speech, 
which  stands  to-day  unsurpassed 
in  the  annals  of  American  ora 
tory.  Webster  was  then  at  the 
height  of  his  intellectual  vigor. 
His  eloquence  was  pure  and  great. 
No  orator  who  has  ever  spoken 
the  English  tongue  has  excelled 
him  in  the  beauty,  force,  and  ap- 
propriateness  of  language.  He 


The  great 
debate. 


1  Under  this  theory  of  Calhoun,  a  State  would  nullify  while  it  remained 
in  the  Union,  but  secession  would  follow  in  case  the  obnoxious  laws  were 
enforced  against  i is  will.  "Should  the  other  members",  wrote  Calhoun, 
"undertake  to  grant  the  power  nullified,  and  should  the  nature  ...  be  such 
as  to  defeat  the  object  of  the  .  .  .  Union,  at  least  so  far  as  the  member  nullify 
ing  is  concerned,  it  would  then  become  an  abuse  of  power  on  the  part  of 
the  principals  [the  other  States],  and  thus  present  a  case  where  secession 
would  apply".  Between  1828  and  1832  Calhoun  fully  outlined  the  whole 
logical  basis  of  secession.  Nothing  needed  to  be  added  in  1861.  Read 
Johnston,  Am.  Orations,  vol.  iii,  p.  321;  MacDonald,  Jacksonian  Democ 
racy,  pp.  84-87,  105,  149,  etc. 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA  301 

maintained,  in  reply  to  Hayne,  that  the  Constitution  was  a  law, 
and  not  a  mere  agreement;  that  it  had  the  force  of  law,  and  was 
binding  on  each  and  every  State;  and  that  each  State  could  not 
at  will  interpret  the  Constitution  to  suit  its  interests.  He  point 
ed  out  that  nullification  must  be  only  interstate  anarchy.  The 
speech  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  people  of  the  country,  for  it 
harmonized  well  with  the  predominating  sentiment  at  the  North. 
This  was  long  known  as  "the  great  debate"  in  the  Senate. 

But  Calhoun's  doctrines  were  to  be  more  forcibly  depicted 

than  by  mere  oratoiy.    In  1832  a  new  tariff  act  was  passed. 

This  was  more  moderate  than  the  one  of  four 

South  ^arotina.  vears  before,  but  South  Carolina  prepared  to  pro 


test  directly  against  it.  Under  the  direction  of 
Calhoun  the  steps  for  nullification  were  taken.  A  convention 
of  the  people  declared  the  tariff  law  null  and  void,  forbade  its 
execution  within  the  State,  and  threatened  secession  from  the 
Union  if  there  should  be  an  effort  to  enforce  it.  This  was  No 
vember,  1832.  The  Ordinance  of  Nullification  was  to  go  into 
force  February  i,  1833. 

On  December  nth  Jackson  issued  his  famous  proclamation 
addressed  to  the  people  of  South  Carolina.  It  was  full  of  fire 
and  vigor.  It  was  at  once  strong,  reasonable,  and 
.  gentle.  "The  laws  of  the  United  States  must  be 
executed",  he  said.  "Those  who  told  you  that 
you  might  peaceably  prevent  their  execution  deceived  you.  .  . 
Their  object  is  disunion,  and  disunion  by  armed  force  is  treason". 
The  people  of  the  United  States  owe  Jackson  a  deep  debt  of 
gratitude.  His  name  —  a  name  of  power  for  many  years  to 
come  —  was  joined  with  the  idea  of  union  and  the  supremacy  of 
the  Constitution.  But  he  did  more  than  issue  a  proclamation: 
he  made  preparation  to  enforce  the  law. 

Calhoun  resigned  the  vice-presidency,  and  was  elected  Sena 
tor  from  his  State.  In  the  winter  a  tariff  bill,  called  the  Com- 
Com  romise«  promise  Tariff  of  1833,  was  passed.  This  provided 
for  a  gradual  lowering  of  the  duties.  Clay  was 
instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  compromise.  At  the  same 
time  an  act,  known  as  "the  force  bill",  was  passed  giving  the 


302  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

President  means  of  enforcing  the  law.  Thus  were  presented  to 
South  Carolina  "the  rod  and  the  olive  branch  bound  up  to 
gether".  South  Carolina  repealed  the  nullification  ordinance, 
thus  accepting  the  olive  branch,  while  she  ignored  the  threaten 
ing  rod.  Danger  of  war  or  secession  was,  for  the  time  being, 
gone;  but  South  Carolina,  under  the  guidance  of  Calhoun,  had 
put  forth  an  ominous  doctrine  which  would  form  the  basis  for 
State  or  sectional  opposition  when  new  necessity  or  fresh 
enmities  arose. 

Through  the  summer  of  1832  a  contest  of  another  sort  had 
been  in  progress,  a  struggle  between  the  friends  and  the  oppo- 
The  bank  nents  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  From 
the  beginning  of  Jackson's  administration  the  bank 
had  been  more  or  less  under  fire.  Jackson  himself  had  a  natural 
objection  to  it,  although  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  anxious 
to  attack  it  until  it  was  hinted  to  him  that  the  institution  was 
using  its  power  for  political  purposes  against  the  Administra 
tion.  This  was  doubtless  not  true  at  first.  But  Jackson  in 
various  messages  to  Congress  hinted  at  the  dangers  of  such  a 
moneyed  organization  and  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  char 
ter.  The  National  Republicans,  led  by  Clay,  believed  that  the 
bank  was  useful  and  desirable,  and  thought  that  the  people  at 
large  felt  the  same  way  about  it.  In  1832,  though  the  charter 
did  not  expire  till  four  years  later,  a  bill  was  passed  by  Congress 
granting  a  new  charter.  Jackson  vetoed  the  bill  on  the  ground 
of  unconstitutionality,  and  for  other  reasons.1 

"Bank  or  no  bank"  was  one  of  the  chief  issues  of  the  presi 
dential  campaign  of  that  year.  Jackson  had  appealed  to  a  wide 
public  sentiment  when  he  objected  to  what  he  considered  a  great 
national  monopoly,  and  he  was,  of  course,  enthusiastically 

1  The  bank,  it  will  be  remembered,  obtained  a  charter  in  1816,  good  for 
twenty  years.  It  is  still  a  subject  of  dispute  as  to  whether  such  a  central 
bank  with  its  branches  throughout  the  Union  was  a  wise  plan. 

Jackson  declared  in  his  message  that  the  bank  was  a  machine  for  mak 
ing  the  rich  richer  and  the  poor  poorer,  a  great  grinding  monopoly.  What 
had  the  Western  farmer  or  the  poor  of  the  Eastern  cities  to  gain  from  a 
gigantic  bank?  Why  grant  it  special  privileges? 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA  303 

supported  by  those  who  admired  his  strong  and  vigorous 
methods.  The  anti-  Jackson  forces  put  forward  as  their  can 
didate  Henry  Clay  —  the  father  of  the  "American 


system",  the  strong  defender  of   the   bank,  the 


the  . 

natural  reliance  of  the  more  conservative  business 

interests  of  the  country.  Though  an  eloquent  speaker  and  a  man 
of  unusual  personal  charm,  who  won  friends  wherever  he  ap 
peared,  he  could  make  no  headway  against  the  current  of  popular 
approval  for  "  old  Hickory  "  and  was  badly  beaten  in  the  election. 
Before  the  end  of  another  presidential  term  his  fol- 
lowers  took  the  name  of  Whigs.  The  name  itself, 
recalling  the  popular  one  by  which  the  patriots  of 
the  Revolution  were  known,  implied  that  Jackson's  methods 
"were  high-handed  and  tyrannical".1 

Jackson  now  felt  himself  sustained  in  his  attitude  toward 
the  bank.  In  the  summer  of  1833  he  proceeded  to  make  another 
attack  upon  it.  The  charter  declared  that  the 
de'oshs  18  3  public  money  was  to  be  deposited  in  the  bank  "un 
less  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  shall  at  any 
time  otherwise  order  and  direct,  in  which  case  he  shall  imme 
diately  lay  before  Congress  .  .  .  the  reason  of  such  order  or 
direction".  Jackson  determined  to  remove  the  deposits.  In 
order  to  accomplish  this  he  needed  to  make  some  changes  in  his 
Cabinet.  He  first  appointed  William  J.  Duane  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  but  the  new  secretary  refused  to  take  the  neces 
sary  action;  whereupon  Jackson  dismissed  him,  and  appointed 


1  Jackson's  administration  is  sometimes  called  the  "reign  of  Andrew 
Jackson",  because  Jackson  was  charged  with  disregard  for  law  and  con 
stitutional  restrictions.  Each  party  was  eager  to  accuse  the  other  of 
having  no  regard  for  the  Constitution.  When,  in  1833,  Harvard  gave 
Jackson  the  degree  of  doctor  of  laws  (LL.D.),  the  wits  of  the  time  asserted 
that  it  was  well  given,  for  Jackson  was  all  the  time  doctoring  up  the 
laws.  The  Whigs  continued  to  defend  the  bank;  they  favored  the 
tariff;  they  were  ready  to  interpret  the  Constitution  broadly  to  get  what 
they  wanted;  they  were  made  up,  generally  speaking,  of  the  well-to-do  and 
the  more  conservative  classes;  men  who  had  looked  upon  Jackson  as  a 
mere  unshorn,  blustering  Indian  fighter  from  the  wilds  of  the  backwoods, 
were  likely  to  find  place  in  the  Whig  party. 


304 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Roger  B.  Taney,  who  did  as  desired,  and  issued  an  order  that 
the  public  money  should  no  longer  be  placed  in  the  bank.  This 
was  called  a  removal  of  the  deposits,  though  in  reality  the  Gov 
ernment  simply  ceased  to  deposit  its  money  in  the  bank,  and 


NEW  EDITION  OF  MACBETH,  1837.    BANK-OH'S  GHOST 
A  Contemporary  Caricature  of  Jackson's  Bank  Policy 

did  not  at  once  draw  out  all  the  money  it  had  there.  The  Gov 
ernment  funds  were  thereafter  placed  in  banks  acting  under 
State  charters;  "pet  banks"  they  were  called.  The  hope  of 
having  part  of  the  public  money  for  use  encouraged  bankmaking, 
and  the  number  of  State  banks  rapidly  increased. 

Jackson  was  sharply  attacked  by  the  Whigs  for  his  assault 
upon  the  bank,  and  a  resolution  of  censure  was  spread  upon  the 
records  of  the  Senate.     Thomas  H.  Ben  ton,  of 

Missouri>  gave  notice  that  he  would  each  session, 
resolution.         until    he    succeeded   in    his  efforts,  introduce  a 
resolution  to  erase  the  censure  from  the  record. 
After   three  years    his  famous   "expunging  resolution"  was 
adopted. 

These  years  were  full  of  business  zest  and  enterprise.     The 
whole  country  was  in  a  state  of  great  prosperity,  but  men  were 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA  305 

rapidly  losing  their  heads  in  their  search  of  immediate  riches. 
One  source  of  speculation  was  the  Western  lands.  State  banks 
grew  rapidly  in  number  and  issued  their  promises 

to  pay  by the  handf ^  These  notes  were  taken 

by  the  Government  in  exchange  for  wild  lands, 
and  because  of  this  and  other  sources  of  income  the  Treasury 
was  well  filled.  The  States  were  now  eagerly  engaged  in  build 
ing  railroads,  and  canals,  and  so  it  was  proposed  that  the  Na 
tional  Government  distribute  its  surplus  revenue  among  the 
States.  A  bill  for  that  purpose  was  passed  in  1836.  The  money 
was  to  be  given  out  in  four  quarterly  installments,  beginning 
January  i,  1837.  Three  payments  were  made,  amounting  in 
all  to  about  $28,000,000.  Before  the  fourth  installment  was 
due  the  Government  had  no  more  money  to  give  away.  This 
distribution  was  on  the  face  of  the  law  only  a  loan;  really  it  was 
looked  upon  as  a  gift.  The  money  so  distributed  has  not  been 
repaid.  It  did  the  States  little  good,  and  probably  in  most  in 
stances  did  harm,  encouraging  wild  plans  of  internal  improve 
ment,  for  many  of  which  there  was  no  real  demand. 

Before  the  end  of  Jackson's  term  he  caused  to  be  issued  the 
"  specie  circular",  an  order  directing  that  only  gold  and  silver 

and  so-called  land  scrip  should  be  received  in  pay- 
2^Sr**  ment  for  lands-  Tnis  brought  the  speculators  and 

wild  enthusiasts  face  to  face  with  facts,  and  soon 
made  clear  to  them  that  promises  to  pay  money  were  not  money, 
and  that  making  plans  of  cities  on  the  Western  prairies  did  not 
materially  add  to  the  wealth  of  the  nation. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  people's  heads  were  turned  by  the 
sight  of  the  nation's  growth;  for  the  country  was  filling  up  with 

astonishing  rapidity.    The  seacoast  towns  no  longer 

looked  like  country  villages,  but  had  put  on  the 
airs  of  populous  cities.  Emigrants  from  Europe  came  in  in 
creasing  numbers,  many  of  them  staying  in  the  ports  where  they 
landed,  others  moving  to  the  new  West.  The  Western  States 
and  Territories  grew  at  a  marvelous  rate.  Arkansas  and  Mich 
igan  were  admitted  as  States  (1836  and  1837).  Ohio  increased 
her  population  in  the  decade  (1830-40)  from  about  900,000  to 


306  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

1,500,000,  or  over  62  per  cent.  The  population  of  Illinois  in- 
creaced  202  per  cent.;  of  Michigan,  570  per  cent.;  of  Mississippi, 
175  per  cent.;  other  States  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  advanced 
almost  as  rapidly,  and  even  the  Territories  were  filling  with 
sturdy  settlers.  Chicago  in  1830  was  but  a  rude  frontier  post,  a 
mere  cluster  of  houses;  before  1840  it  was  a 'prosperous  town, 
with  lines  of  steamers  connecting  it  with  the  East,  and  was 
already  the  center  of  the  newest  West. 

There  seem  to  have  been  less  than  thirty  miles  of  railroad 
in  the  country  in  1830;  hi  1840  there  were  not  far  from  three 
thousand ,  It  is  no  wonder  that  men  were  induced 
improvements.  to  build  air  castles,  or  that  they  expected  to  see 
the  Western  wilderness  conquered  in  a  day.  Some 
of  the  States  planned  great  railroad  and  canal  systems,  and, 
wild  with  schemes  of  internal  improvement,  plunged  rashly  into 
debt.  Michigan,  for  example,  entered  upon  the  task  of  building 
three  railroads  across  the  State,  voted  sums  for  the  survey  of 
canals,  and  authorized  the  Governor  to  borrow  five  million  dol 
lars  to  defray  the  expenses  of  such  undertakings.  Individuals 
as  well  as  States  discounted  the  future,  expecting  almost  imme 
diate  wealth  as  a  result  of  investments. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  purchase  of  wild  lands  from  the 
Government  was  an  especially  attractive  form  of  speculation. 
Men  seem  actually  to  have  thought  that  lands 
Purchased  at  $1.25  an  acre  would  in  a  few  days  or 
months  be  worth  much  more  on  the  market,  al 
though  the  Government  had  a  great  deal  more  land  to  sell  at 
the  old  figure.  Indeed,  at  times  these  speculations  were  profit 
able,  for  the  nation  was  buoyed  up  with  hope  and  with  visions 
of  unbounded  prosperity.  Sales  of  Government  lands  rose  from 
about  two  and  a  half  million  dollars  in  1832  to  over  twenty-four 
million  dollars  in  1836.  There  was  much  healthy  vigor,  for  the 
country  was  growing,  and  its  growth  was  due  to  zealous  work. 
But  thrift  had  been  displaced  by  greed  for  immediate  riches, 
and  the  result  was  sure  to  be  disappointment,  if  not  disaster. 
Few  saw,  when  Jackson  left  office  in  1837,  that  the  storm  was 
ready  to  break. 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA  307 

In  1836  Martin  Van  Buren,  one  of  Jackson's  proteges  and 
favorites,  was  chosen  President,  defeating  William  Henry  Har 
rison,  whom  the  Whigs  had  nominated.1  Van  Buren  prided 
himself  on  being  the  successor  of  the  "man  of  the  people"  and 
proclaimed  his  intention  of  carrying  forward  the  policy  of  Jack 
son.  He  probably  would  have  dearly  liked  to  be  a  popular  idol 
himself;  but  few  men  were  so  ill-fitted  for  that  role.  Carrying 
out  Jackson's  policies  without  being  Jackson  was  no  easy  job, 
and  Van  Buren  was  soon  face  to  face  with  trouble  that  would 
have  tried  even  the  stern  head  and  stout  heart  of  the  old  chief 
tain.2  The  nation  was  elated,  joyous  and  confident,  but  a  pe 
riod  of  distress  and  want  was  at  hand. 

Some  slight  indications  had  already  been  given  that  the 
country  was  on  the  eve  of  business  disaster.  It  was  awakening 
with  a  shock  from  the  prolonged  fit  of  intoxication 
is-j^r"  over  American  success  and  growth.  In  the  win 

ter  before  the  inauguration  a  large  gathering  was 
held  in  New  York  in  response  to  a  call  headed  "Bread,  meat, 
rent,  fuel!  Their  prices  must  come  down"!  There  were 
troubles  in  Europe,  and  Englishmen  who  had  invested  money 
in  this  country  now  began  to  demand  payment  on  their  stocks, 
bonds,  and  notes.  With  what  were  Americans  to  pay?  With 
the  paper  of  the  hundreds  of  banks — banks  with  little  or  no  gold 
and  silver  in  their  vaults,  and  without  capital  that  could  be 


1  The  nomination  of  Harrison  and  Granger  was  not  made  by  a  formal 
national  convention. 

2  Van  Buren  was  president  one  term,  1837-1841.    He  had  been  some 
what  prominent  in  political  life  for  twenty  years  before  his  accession  to  the 
presidency.    He  had  been  senator  from  New  York,  and  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States.    He  was  a  politician  of  great  adroitness,  and  so  clever  in 
political  management  that  he  had  won  the  title  of  the  "Little  Magician". 
He  was  a  polished,  polite,  good-natured  man,  never  giving  way  to  excite 
ment  or  to  appearance  of  anger.    His  cool  suavity  was  attributed  by  his 
enemies  to  a  designing  disposition,  his  politeness  to  a  capacity  for  deceit. 
His  life  does  not  show,  however,  that  he  was  devoid  of  either  ability  or 
principle.    He  performed  his  presidential  duties  well.    His  term  was  full  of 
trouble  and  anxiety,  but  he  showed  good  judgment  and  discretion  in  meet 
ing  the  trying  problems  that  confronted  him. 


308  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

turned  into  good  money?  Of  course,  the  Englishmen  wanted 
good  money.  Jackson's  specie  circular,  too,  did  much  to  topple 
over  the  castles  in  the  air  which  the  people  had  been  building. 
It  now  became  clear  enough  that  the  paper  of  worthless  banks 
was  not  money;  and  it  soon  appeared  that  nearly  everything  had 
acquired  an  unreal  price.  Soon  all  was  confusion;  workmen 
were  thrown  out  of  employment,  and  there  was  much  suffering 
among  the  poor;  men,  that  had  thought  themselves  rich,  found 
that  their  wealth  was  in  Western  lands  for  which  there  was  no 
market,  or  in  promises  to  pay  on  which  they  could  not  realize, 
or  in  shares  of  some  gigantic  project  which  was  now  no  more. 
The  great  fabric,  reared  on  credit  and  hope,  fell,  and  the  whole 
country  was  in  consternation.  The  lesson  was  pretty  sharply 
taught,  that  not  the  planning  of  new  cities  where  none  were 
needed,  or  the  digging  of  canals  where  the  country  was  not 
ready  for  them,  or  the  speculation  in  lands  or  stocks,  created 
real  wealth  or  stored  up  help  for  the  day  of  distress. 

Unfortunately,  all  the  lessons  of  this  panic  were  not  gath 
ered  by  the  people.  The  Government  was  charged  with  a  large 
part  of  the  trouble.  Doubtless  Jackson's  some-> 
Help  from  the  what  rude  handling  of  financial  affairs  had  aggra- 
de°mandednt  vated  matters,  but  the  root  of  the  evil  was  reckless 
extravagance.  There  was  a  wide  demand  now  for 
the  Government  to  lift  the  people  out  of  their  difficulties,  but 
the  Government  was  itself  in  perplexing  straits.  Beginning  in 
January  to  distribute  money  among  the  States,  before  the  end 
of  the  year  it  was  not  only  unable  to  pay  the  last  of  the  four 
quarterly  installments,  but  was  hardly  able  to  meet  its  own 
running  expenses.  Van  Buren  bravely  refused  to  recommend 
any  extraordinary  plans  for  bringing  about  good  times,  because 
he  did  not  believe  it  was  the  duty  of  government  —  especially 
the  United  States  Government — to  lift  people  out  of  pits  which 
they  had  dug  with  their  own  hands.  He  was  in  consequence 
denounced  as  hardhearted  and  cruel  by  Whig  orators  and  by 
many  of  the  people. 

He  recommended  (special  session,  September,  1837)  that 
thereafter  the  Government  of  the  United  States  should  do  its 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA  309 

own  financial  business;  that  it  should  not  keep  its  funds  in  State 
banks,  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  establish  another  national  bank, 
but  that  the  money  should  be  collected  and  kept 
by  the  Government  itself.  This  meant  simply 
that  whatever  money  was  collected  should  be  put 
by  the  Government  in  its  own  "  strong  box".  The  plan — called 
the  "Divorce  Bill",  because  it  divorced  the  Government  from 
the  banks — was  bitterly  attacked,  and  was  not  indeed  adopted 
until  1840.  The  next  year  this  bill  was  repealed;  but  in  1846 
a  like  measure  was  adopted.  Since  that  day  a  similar  means 
of  keeping  the  public  money  has  been  followed.1 

There  had  been  strong  party  disputes  and  much  ill-feeling 
during  Jackson's'  administration  and  diving  Van  Buren's  like 
wise;  but  by  1840  it  was  apparent  that  much  that 
Jackson  stood  for  was  accepted  as  a  lasting  part 
of  American  political  life.  The  Whigs,  .loudly  cry 
ing  out  against  Jacksonian  tyranny  and  his  high-minded  meth 
ods,  were  now  themselves  Jacksonian  in  part.  They  made  no 
pretence — and  they  could  not  if  they  hoped  for  success — of 
being  superior  to  other  folks  or  of  distrusting  the  sense  or  ability 
of  the  masses  of  the  people.  Though  there  were  many  strong 
Whigs  among  the  planters  of  the  Souther  States,  the  party  was 
always  somewhat  stronger  in  the  East  than  in  the  West  or  South. 
It  was  largely  made  up  of  the  business  people  and  the  manufac 
turers,  who  wanted  an  able,  effective  government,  a  tariff  and 
good  banks;  on  the  whole,  they  included  much  the  same  element 
as  that  which  had  formed  the  old  Federalist  party;  but  wherever 
they  were  or  whatever  they  stood  for,  they  appealed  for  popular 
support,  and  did  not  try  to  hold  aloof  or  pretend  to  possess  more 
sense  and  capacity  than  the  ordinary  citizen. 

The  election  of  1840  brought  forth  no  issues  that  now  de 
mand  our  serious  attention.  The  Democrats  nominated  Van 
Buren  again,  and  tried  to  win  success  by  pointing  to  his  record; 
they  opposed  the  reestablishment  of  the  national  bank,  and 

7  Portions  of  the  public  money  are  kept  in  national  banks  which  were 
provided  for  during  the  Civil  War. 
21 


310  HlbTOR^  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

favored  the  independent  treasury.  The  Whigs  put  forward 
William  Henry  Harrison,  of  Ohio,  who  had  received  some  sup 
port  in  1836,  and  they  nominated  for  the  vice-presi- 

dency  John  Tyler> of  virginia-  These  nominations 
1840.  illustrate,  in  a  measure,  the  character  of  the  Whig 

party  of  the  time;  it  was  decidedly  a  party  of  opposi 
tion,  and  had,  therefore,  no  very  precise  set  of  principles  and  no 
very  distinct  character.  Harrison  was  chosen  as  leader,  not  be 
cause  he  stood  clearly  for  some  particular  principle  or  policy,  but 
rather  because  he  did  not.  Into  the  Whig  ranks  had  come  the  mal 
contents  and  those  dissatisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the  party  in 
power.  Tyler,  for  example,  was  a  states-rights  man,  who  ob 
jected  to  Jackson's  personal  rule  and  what  were  called  his  high 
handed  ruthless  methods;  but  he  was  almost  as  much  out  of 
place  in  the  Whig  party,  by  the  side  of  Webster  and-  Clay,  as  in 
the  party  of  Jackson  and  Van  Buren.  Tyler  thought  that  he  and 
Clay  were  boon  companions  and  co-workers,  though,  in  reality, 
they  had  little  in  common  save  equal  dislike  for  Andrew  Jackson. 
It  is  said  that  Tyler  wept  when  Clay  was  not  chosen  in  the  Con 
vention  to  be  the  standard  bearer  of  the  party;  and  "Tyler's 
tears"  were  popularly  said  to  be  the  reason  for  his  own  nomina 
tion  for  the  vice-presidency. 

The  campaign  showed  that  the  Whigs  had  learned  the  lesson 
of  popular  success.    They  took  a  shaft  from  their  opponent's 

quiver,  and  they  handled  their  weapon  with  clever- 
campafgn*1"11  ness*  They  had  nominated  a  Westerner,  and  they 

made  the  most  of  it;  their  candidate  was  a  man 
who  had  lived  on  the  frontier,  had  fought  the  Indians  and  the 
British — a  simple,  unaffected  old  soldier,  who  was  pictured  as 
living  in  a  log-cabin  and  drinking  hard  cider  as  if  he  liked  it. 
Up  and  down  the  land,  Whig  orators  proclaimed  the  uprightness 
of  "Old  Tip"  and  his  rugged  character.  " Every  breeze",  ex 
claimed  Webster,  "says  change".  "The  hour  for  discussion 
has  passed",  Clay  announced.  Men  gathered  in  thousands  to 
indulge  in  jollification  and  to  shout  allegiance  to  the  old  man  of 
the  West,  who  was  not,  like  "Matty"  Van  Buren,  a  scheming 
politician — not  at  all  like  "Matty  of  Kinderhook",  who  had 
' 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA  311 

bought  gold  spoons  for  the  White  House  table.  Campaign 
crowds  were  counted  by  the  thousand  or  measured  by  the  acre; 
for  the  first  time  the  people  of  the  whole  country,  full  of  interest 
and  enjoying  the  game  and  war  of  politics,  devoted  themselves 
to  the  contest.  Much  of  their  fun-making  and  their  jollity,  as 
we  look  back  upon  it,  seems  trivial  or  undignified,  but  it  had  its 
meaning.  The  cheap,  doggerel  verse  and  the  campaign  songs 
meant  nothing  in  themselves;  but  it  was  important  that  far  and 
wide  the  whole  people  felt  that  the  Government  was  their  gov 
ernment  and  that  no  one  could  say  them  nay.1 

Enthusiasm  for  Harrison,  strongly  aided  by  the  hard  times, 

for  which  the  Democrats  had  to  bear  the  blame,  easily  carried 

the  day  for  the  Whigs.   They  were  wild  with  elation 

elected"*  and  overcome  with  joy.    Nineteen  States  out  of 

the  total  number  of  twenty-six  cast  their  electoral 

votes  for  Harrison  and  Tyler.2 

The  new  President  was  inaugurated  with  unwonted  display. 
Whigs  from  every  quarter  of  the  Union — each  probably  claim 
ing  to  be  "  the  original  Harrison  man  " — hastened  to  Washington 
to  sip  and  taste  the  honey  and  fruit  of  victory.  The  fatigues 
of  the  campaign  had  already  tested  Harrison's  strength,  for  he 

1  Interesting  accounts  of  this  campaign  of  sound  and  excitement  will 
be  found  in  Schouler,  History,  vol.  iv,  pp.  328-340,  especially  pp.  335-340; 
Shepard,  Van  Buren,  pp.  327-338;  Schurz,  Henry  Clay,  vol.  ii,  pp.  170- 
197;  Van  Hoist,  Constitutional  History,  vol.  ii,  pp.  390-405.    One  of  the 
pieces  of  doggerel  verse  used  in  the  campaign  was  only  too  descriptive— 

"National  Republicans  in  Tippecanoe, 

And  Democratic  Republicans  in  Tyler,  too". 

This  was  a  strange  combination  of  men  and  principles.  Throughout 
the  campaign  live  coons  and  barrels  of  cider  were  always  in  evidence;  log 
cabins  were  reared  as  emblems  in  town  and  city,  or  were  drawn  about  on 
carts  in  long  processions  to  mass  meetings. 

2  Harrison  was  an  honest,  straightforward,  simple  man,  of  moderate 
ability.    He  was  not  a  great  statesman,  nor  did  he  show  himself   to  be  a 
leader  of  men,  but  throughout  life  he  quietly  and  conscientiously  performed 
the  duties  that  devolved  upon  him.    He  won  some  honor  in  the  War  of 
1812,  when  the  nation  craved  heroes.    He  was  Governor  01  Indiana  Terri 
tory  for  twelve  years,  a  Representative  in  Congress,  and  also  a  Senator. 
For  some  years  before  his  election  he  had  been  living  in  a  quiet,  unassum 
ing  way  at  his  home  in  Ohio. 


312  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

was  not  robust  in  body,  and  now  his  new  duties  and  the  clamors 

of   the    office-seekers    broke    him     down.1     Just  'one  month 

after    his  inauguration    he   died.     For   the   first 

Death  of  the          ,.  .  ,  .  A  «      ,,  ,      .,        XTT1  .^ 

President.          time  m   our   history   death   entered    the  White 

House. 

Tyler  at  once  assumed  the  duties  and  the  title  of  President. 
The  Whigs  who  had  elected  him  were  somewhat  anxious,  but 
for  a  time  tried  to  preserve  a  bold  front,  and  at 
Resident?11"  first  things  went  smoothly.  Tyler  retained  Har 
rison's  Cabinet,  and  issued  an  address  to  the  peo 
ple,  in  which  he  said  nothing  that  was  particularly  new  or  that 
gave  notice  of  Democratic  leanings.  Difficulties  soon  arose, 
however.  Clay  felt  himself  the  leader  of  the  party,  and,  by 
nature  imperious  and  qualified  for  leadership,  he  could  not 
brook  the  pretensions  of  the  man  whose  position  had  been  se 
cured  by  sheer  accident.  Tyler,  in  turn,  was  headstrong  and 
ambitious,  and  seems  to  have  begun  early  to  nurse  hopes  of  a 
reelection.  However  that  may  be,  his  whole  history  showed 
that,  unless  he  renounced  his  past,  he  could  not  agree  with  the 
Whigs  on  affirmative  measures,  however  well  he  had  been 
getting  along  with  them  when  both  were  in  opposition. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  recount  here  the  different  steps  by 
which  Tyler  became  estranged  from  the  party  that  elected  him. 
Twice  was  a  bank  bill  passed  by  Congress  and 
Tyler  and  the     vetoed  by  the  President.     A  tariff  law  was  passed 
estranged.          (I^>42)  and  signed  by  the  President,  but  this  was 
accomplished  only  after  a  long  struggle,  in  the 
course  of  which  two   different   tariff   measures  were  vetoed. 
Before  the  middle  of   his  term  Tyler  was  without  strong  sup 
port  in  either  party,  but  was  upheld  by  a  few  men  who  were 
sneered  at  as  "the  corporal's  guard".2 

1  "We  have  nothing  here  in  politics",  wrote  Horace  Greeley,  who  had 
during  the  campaign  edited  the  Log  Cabin  newspaper,  "but  large  and 
numerous  swarms  of  office-hunting  locusts,  sweeping  on  to  Washington 
daily".    See  Sthurz,  Henry  Clay,  vol.  ii,  p.  192. 

2  "As  an  instance  of  the  President's  unpopularity,  an  influenza  which 
about  this  time  broke  out  acquired  the  name  of  the  'Tyler  grippe'". 
(Schouler,  iv,  p.  433.) 


THE  JACKSONIAN  ERA  313 

There  were  some  delicate  questions  in  foreign  affairs  which 
Tyler's  administration  settled.     For  some  years  past  American 
relations  with  England  had  been  unsatisfactory 
1  Carolme      and  threatening,     In  Van  Buren's  administration 


an  incident  occurred  commonly  called  "the  Caro 
line  affair".  There  was  at  that  time  an  insurrection  in  Canada, 
and  some  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  sympathized  with 
the  rebels.  A  vessel,  the  Caroline,  seems  to  have  been  used  to 
transport  men  and  supplies  from  New  York  across  the  Niagara 
River.  An  expedition  from  Canada  crossed  to  the  American 
side,  seized  the  vessel,  set  her  on  fire  and  let  her  drift  over  the 
falls.  An  American  citizen  was  killed  in  the  affair.  Some  years 
after  this  a  Canadian  named  McLeod  was  arrested  in  New  York 
and  charged  with  the  murder  of  the  American.  The  English 
jg  i  Government  demanded  the  release  of  this  man, 

on  the  ground  that  the  whole  matter  was  a  public 
affair,  for  which  England  herself,  and  not  a  private  citizen,  was 
responsible!  The  New  York  authorities  refused  to  surrender 
their  prisoner  to  the  National  Government,  and  the  situation 
was  serious  and  critical.  Fortunately  he  was  acquitted  upon 
trial,  and  so  England  had  on  this  score  no  further  ground  of 
complaint. 

Some  time  before  these  occurrences  serious  disputes  had 
arisen  concerning  the  northeastern  boundary.     The  terms  of 

the  treaty  that  was  signed  at  the  close  of  the 
era  bTJldary!"  Revolution  were  not  explicit.  Maine  and  Canada 

both  laid  claim  to  a  large  territory,  each  insisting 
that  under  the  treaty  she  was  the  rightful  owner,  and  there  was 
now  danger  of  war.  Maine  ordered  troops  into  the,  disputed 
territory  and  held  it,  and  this  armed  possession,  known  as  the 
"  Aroostook  war",  is  said  to  have  cost  the  State  a  million  dollars 
(1839).  War  was  prevented,  however,  and  negotiations  for  set 
tlement  were  undertaken.  In  1842  Lord  Ashburton  came  to 
America  authorized  to  treat,  and  he  and  Webster  agreed  on  a 
treaty  which  compromised  this  dispute,  and  set  at  rest  all  con 
troversies  concerning  the  northern  boundary  of  the  United 
States  even  as  far  west  as  the  Lake  of  the  Woods.  It  also  pro- 


314  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

vided  for  the  extradition  of  certain  classes  of  criminals,  and  for 
keeping  armed  cruisers  of  both  nations  employed  in  checking 
the  slave  trade. 

Before  the  end  of  Tyler's  term  the  Texas  question,  in 
volving  the  whole  subject  of  slavery  and  slavery 
V         expansion  had  arisen,  and  we  must  now  go  back 
to  an  early  time  and  see  the  rise  of  the  anti-slavery 
sentiment  in  the  Union. 


REFERENCES 

HART,  Contemporaries,  Volume  III,  pp.  531-535,  540-544;  WOOD- 
ROW  WILSON,  Division  and  Reunion,  pp.  1-117;  BURGESS,  Middle 
Period,  Chapters  VIII-X,  XII;  SUMNER,  Andrew  Jackson,  Chapters 
VTI-XII;  SHEPARD,  Martin  Van  Bur  en,  Chapters  VI-X;  SCHURZ, 
Clay,  Volume  I,  Chapters  XII,  XIII,  Volume  II,  Chapters  XIV-XX, 
XXII-XXIII;  LODGE,  Webster,  pp.  166-256;  THEODORE  ROOSEVELT, 
Thomas  Hart  Benton,  Chapters  IV-VII,  IX-XII;  GARRISON,  Westward 
Extension,  Chapters  III-V.  Longer  accounts:  SCHOULER,  Volume 
III,  pp.  451-529,  Volume  IV,  pp.  1-201,  226-245,  257-296,  313-421; 
MCMASTER,  Volume  VI,  pp.  1-270,  299-466,  550-647,  Volume  VIL 
pp.  1-227;  MAcDoNALD,  Jacksonian  Democracy. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
SLAVERY  AND   THE   TEXAS    QUESTION 

IT  is  an  interesting  and  illustrative  fact  that  in  the  campaign 
of  sound  and  nonsense,  when  every  breeze  was  whispering 
change,  there  was  little  discussion  of  a  great  ques- 
The  Liberty  tion — the  greatest,  the  most  difficult,  the  most 
party.  somber  that  had  as  yet  come  before  the  American 

people.  A  little  band  of  men,  opponents  of  slavery, 
had  formed  a  party — the  Liberty  party;  but  it  attracted  little 
attention  and  only  some  7000  votes  were  cast  for  its  candidates 
in  the  election  of  1840.  Men  talked  and  shouted  as  if  the  main 
thing  was  to  get  rid  of  Van  Buren  and  elect  "Old  Tip",  or  as  if 
bank  or  no  bank  was  the  all-absorbing  problem  of  the  time. 
How  little  in  the  midst  of  serious  troubles  and  of  new  problems 
do  we  see  their  presence  or  recognize  their  difficulty! 

And  yet  the  slavery  question  had  for  about  ten  years  been 
the  cause  of  some  excitement  and  bitter  dispute.  From  the 
time  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  till  about  1830  there  was  little 
discussion  of  the  subject;  but  in  the  nex;  decade  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  talk  and  the  times  were  coming  when  men  would 
speak  of  little  else. 

In  1829  William  Lloyd  Garrison  and  Benjamin  Lundy  began 

to  print,  at  Baltimore,  The  Genius  of  Universal  Emancipation. 

Two  years  later  Garrison  founded  The  Liberator, 

abolitionists  at  Boston>  ancl  in  l832  tne  New  England  Anti- 
slavery  Society  was  founded.  The  society  advo 
cated  the  abolition  of  slavery  at  once,  on  the  ground  that  it  was 
sinful  and  demoralizing.  Men  were  called  to  "immediate  re 
pentance".  Somewhat  later  the  American  Antislavery  Society 
was  organized.  It  grew  but  slowly  at  first,  and  met  with  the 
angry  opposition  of  many  who  saw  that  the  South  would  not 

315 


316 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


They  suffer 
violence. 


consent  to  immediate  action,  and  that  the  preaching  of  such  doc 
trine  would  necessarily  bring  sectional  ill  feeling  and  disturbance. 

During  the  next  few  years  many 
abolitionists1   were    attacked    by 

Northern    mobs,    in 

large  part  made  up 

doubtless  of  the  more 
ignorant  and  excitable  people,  but 
some  of  them  containing  men  who 
ought  to  have  known  that,  in  a  free 
country,  persecution  and  violence 
are  the  poorest  of  arguments  and 
likely  to  have  quite  an  opposite 
effect  from  that  intended.  In  1833 
Prudence  Crandall  opened  her 
school  in  Canterbury,  Conn.,  to 
negro  girls.  She  was  cast  into  jail, 
and  her  school  building  destroyed. 
In  1837  Elijah  P.  Love  joy  was  shot 
in  Alton,  111.  His  offence  was  the  publication  of  an  anti-slavery 
newspaper.  Garrison  was  mobbed,  and  led  with  a  rope  through 
the  streets  of  Boston. 

Garrison's  attacks  were  sharp,  ceaseless,  unrelenting.  The 
Liberator  poured  out  denunciation  on  the  whole  system  of 

slavery,  using  the  most  scathing  terms  of  reproach. 

"J  am  aware",  said  Garrison,  "that  many  object 

to  the  severity  of  my  language;  but  is  there  not 
cause  for  severity?  I  will  be  as  harsh  as  truth,  and  as  uncom 
promising  as  justice.  On  this  subject,  I  do  not  wish  to  think,  or 
speak,  or  write  with  moderation".  He  made  no  excuse  for  the 
slave-holder  on  the  ground  that  the  system  had  long  existed, 
that  it  was  an  inheritance  from  the  past.  He  had  no  patience 

1  It  should  be  noticed  that  abolitionism  was  essentially  different  from 
other  earlier  movements  against  slavery,  inasmuch  as  its  main  tenet  was 
the  sinfulness  of  slavery,  which  tainted  the  slaveholder  and  the  whole 
nation.  It  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  gradual  emancipation;  its  pur 
pose  was  to  arouse  the  conscience  of  the  nation  to  immediate  repentance. 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  TEXAS  QUESTION  317 

with  those  advocating  gradual  abolition;  "Gradualism  in  theory", 
he  asserted,  "is  perpetuity  in  practice  ".  We  may  not  all  agree 
that  Garrison  was  wise  and  right  in  the  manner  of  his  opposition; 
but  there  are  few  more  intensely  interesting  or  more  profoundly 
impressive  pictures  than  that  of  the  young  man,  almost  alone, 
friendless  and  poor,  taking  up  this  great  crusade,  printing  his 
paper  in  a  garret  in  Boston,  and  filling  its  pages  with  words  of 
fire.  He  began  a  crusade  against  one  of  the  oldest  institutions 
in  the  world,  a  system  that  was  old  when  the  pyramids  began  to 
rise  above  the  sands  of  Egypt. 

Slavery  had  now  firmly  fastened  itself  on  the  Southern 
States.     The  new  Southwest,  where  a  generation  before  there 
was  only  a  wilderness,  had  now  great  cotton  plan- 
The  position  of  tations.     Step  by  step,  with  the  growth  of  the 
owner™  nation,  slavery  had  grown,  and  the  whole  indus 

trial  life  of  the  South  was  built  upon  it.  Before 
1835  or  so,  the  majority  of  the  Southern  people  still  believed  the 
system  wrong  or  at  least  that  slavery  was  a  misfortune.  But 
now  they  were  beginning  to  defend  it,  not  always  as  good  in 
itself,  but  as  the  only  system  possible  for  the  South.  It  was 
foolish  and  impossible,  they  declared,  to  discuss  the  subject  as 
a  purely  theoretical  matter;  the  negroes  were  there;  and  no  other 
condition  for  them  seemed  possible,  the  Southerners  maintained, 
but  bondage,  subjection  to  the  superior  white  race. 

Naturally  the  slave-owners  were  incensed  against  an  organi 
zation  which  declared  slaveholding  to  be  a  sin,  calling  for  instant 
repentance.    Men  who  had  been  surrounded  by  the 
The  south         system  all  their  lives  might  see  some  of  its  bad  ef- 

demands  their         T  -n- 

suppression.  f  ects,  but  were  not  willing  to  be  denounced  as  crim 
inals.  Some  of  them  now  declared  that  abolition 
newspapers  and  pamphlets  should  be  shut  out  from  the  mails, 
and  the  Governor  of  Alabama  went  so  far  as  to  demand  that  New 
York  should  turn  over  to  his  State  for  punishment  the  publisher 
of  the  Emancipator,  an  anti-slavery  paper,  on  the  ground  that 
he  had  disseminated  seditious  articles  (I835).1  The  Southern 

1  The  Constitution  provides  for  the  return  of  fugitives  from  justice  to 
the  State  whence  they  have  fled;  but  it  makes  no  provision  for  the  author- 


318  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

papers  called  for  action  on  the  part  of  the  Northern  States. 
"Words,  words,  words  are  all  we  are  to  have",  said  one.  "Up 
to  the  mark  the  North  must  come  if  it  would  restore  tran 
quillity  and  preserve  the  Union",  said  another.  The  South  was 
moving  on  dangerous  ground.  There  was  little  sympathy  with 
the  Abolitionists  at  the  North,  but  the  excessive  demands  of 
the  South  were  sure  to  bring  about  a  reaction,  in  part  at  least. 
An  occasional  mob  might  attack  "a  fanatic",  but  there  was  little 
chance  that  the  Northern  people  would  turn  over  to  Alabama  a 
Northern  man  for  punishment  because  he  had  written  or  said 
words  distasteful  to  the  South,  or  that  they  would  suppress  by 
law  free  speech  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 

At  the  North  the  open  Abolitionists  were  few,  but  seemed 
to  be  slowly  increasing.    At  the  South  there  was  deep  resent 
ment.     Sharp  debates  occurred  in  Congress.     The 
Slavery  South  could  look  with  no  patience  on  a  movement 

question  ma.  »-».»• 

new  phase.  whose  promoters  denounced  slave-holding  as  a  car 
dinal  sin,  and  who  refused  to  consider  any  plans  or 
methods  but  immediate  and  unconditional  abolition.  Now  be 
gan  that  controversy  which  ended  in  the  civil  war.  Sectional 
feeling  grew  constantly  more  bitter. 

A  favorite  idea  of  some  Northern  opponents  of  slavery,  even 
when  not  Abolitionists,  was  to  bring  about  the  abolition  of  slav 
ery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.     Petitions  to  this 

Adams  and  i  /->  •      •  •  i 

the  gag.  enc*  came  to  Congress  in  increasing  numbers.     A 

rule  was  proposed  in  the  House  providing  that  such 
petitions  should  not  be  printed  or  referred  to  a  committee,  but 
laid  upon  the  table  (1836).  John  Quincy  Adams  was  then  a 
member  of  the  House,  and  when  this  rule  was  presented  he  rose 
and  said:  "I  hold  the  resolution  to  be  a  direct  violation  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  rules  of  this  House,  and 
the  rights  of  my  constituents".  The  rule  was  adopted  by  a 
large  majority;  but  from  that  time  on  Adams  devoted  himself 
to  the  presentation  of  anti-slavery  petitions  and  to  an  attempt 
to  bring  about  an  abandonment  of  the  so-called  "gag-policy". 

ities  of  one  State  to  turn  over  to  another  State  a  person  charged  with  a 
crime  in  such  second  State  when  he  did  not  actually  flee  from  it. 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  TEXAS  QUESTION 


319 


He  was  not  successful,  however,  until  after  eight  years  of  effort. 
This  long  contest  of  Adams  for  the  right  of  petition  is  full  of 
striking  and  dramatic  scenes.  The  pro-slavery  men  made  a  se 
rious  blunder  when  they  tried  to  prevent  debate  on  this  great 
question.  Not  only  did  they  array  against  them  the  keenest 


CARTOON  USED  AS  A  COVER  TO  AN  EMANCIPATION  SONG  SUNG  IN  1844  BY 
THE  HUTCHINSONS 

The  Hutchinsons  were  a  famous  family  of  singers  who  were  active  in  the 
abolition  movement.  Rogers  was  the  editor  of  the  "Herald  of  Freedom," 
a  pioneer  anti-slavery  newspaper,  published  in  Concord,  N.  H. 

debater  in  the  House,  but  the  effort  to  stifle  discussion  awoke 
the  interest  of  the  nation,  and  thousands  of  men  signed  petitions 
or  were  won  over  to  anti-slavery  sentiment  who  otherwise  would 
have  taken  no  interest.  The.  first  eighteen  months  of  the  gag 
policy  increased  the  number  of  anti-slavery  petitions  from 


320  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

twenty-three  to  three  hundred  thousand.  The  Abolitionists 
henceforth  might  be  denounced,  but  they  were  safe  from  per 
sonal  violence. 

The  opponents  of  slavery  differed  in  their  methods  of  work, 
as  well  as  in  the  intensity  of  their  beliefs  and  opinions.  There 
were  all  shades,  from  those  that  did  not  like  the 
sUver"8 cements.  system  Dut  disapproved  of  violent  attacks  upon  it, 
to  those  that  were  as  fierce  as  Garrison  in  their 
opposition.  The  Garrisonian  Abolitionists,  demanding  repent 
ance  from  sinners,  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  ordinary  po 
litical  methods;  they  looked  upon  a  nation  stained  with  slavery 
as  already  branded  with  infamy;  they  refused  even  to  vote;  they 
considered  union  with  slave  holders  a  wrong;  and  declared  the 
Constitution,  in  the  words  of  the  Hebrew  prophet,  to  be  "a  cov 
enant  with  death  and  an  agreement  with  helP'.J  Others,  the 
voting  Abolitionists,  felt  otherwise;  they  formed  the  Liberty 
party  and  prepared  to  struggle  against  slavery  in  political  con 
flict.  Still  others  simply  objected  to  slavery  without  taking  it 
up  as  a  political  matter. 

Things  might  have  gone  on  this  way  for  a  long  time;  gradu 
ally  the  North  might  have  been  won  to  intense  and  bitter  oppo 
sition,  while  the  South  held  ever  more  strongly  to 
slavery.  But  new  conditions  arose;  Western  ex 
pansion  had  before  this  time  raised  the  slavery 
question  and  made  it  a  subject  of  heated  discussion  in  Congress; 
for,  while  many  men  might  be  unwilling  to  force  the  subject  of 
abolition  on  the  South,  they  would  not  consent  to  the  extension  of 
the  system  into  new  regions.  Every  step  in  the  westward  move 
ment  and  in  acquisition  of  territory  was  sure  to  be  accompanied 
with  debate  on  slavery.  Soon  after  the  election  of  1840,  when 
politicians  were  still  wrangling  over  the  bank  and  the  tariff,  the 
country  entered  upon  a  new  era ;  henceforward  slavery  would  not 
down;  henceforward,  try  as  they  would,  men  could  not  blind 


1  "And  your  covenant  with  death  shall  be  disannulled,  and  your  agree 
ment  with  hell  shall  not  stand;  when  the  overflowing  scourge  shall  pass 
through,  then  ye  shall  be  trodden  down  by  it".  (Isaiah  xxviii,  18.) 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  TEXAS  QUESTION  321 

their  eyes  to  the  great  issue — should  slave  territory  be  increased 
or  should  slavery  be  hemmed  in  within  its  old  limits  and  left  to 
struggle  on  against  fate  and  the  forces  of  modern  industrial  so 
ciety  as  best  it  could? 

For  some  time  past  the  question  of  the  annexation  of  Texas 
to  the  United  States  had  been  receiving  a  good  share  of  the  pub- 
Texas  ^c  attention.  Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  the 
history  of  the  whole  matter.  It  will  be  remem 
bered  that  in  181 9-^21  the  United  States  agreed  with  Spain  that 
the  Sabine  River  should  be  our  southwestern  boundary.  Under 
the  Louisiana  treaty  \ve  had  ground  for  claiming  even  as  far  as 
the  Rio  Grande,  but  of  course  gave  up  our  claim  by  the  later 
agreement.  Hardly  had  the  treaty  with  Spain  been  agreed  to 
when  Mexico  attained  her  independence  and  came  into  the  own 
ership  of  the  Texas  country.  Settlers  from  the  Southern  States 
began  to  move  into  this  territory.  Before  1830  there  was  a  con 
siderable  American  population  there,  utterly  out  of  sympathy 
with  Mexico  and  her  whole  political  system.  In  1836  the  Texans 
declared  their  independence,  and,  led  by  Samuel  Houston,  fought 
and  won  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto.  From  that  time  on  Mexican 
authority  practically  ceased.  The  next  year  Texas  asked  admit 
tance  to  the  Union.  Many  of  the  Southern  people  now  became 
intent  upon  annexation  because  it  would  extend  slave  territory. 
Nothing  of  importance  was  done  in  Van  Buren's  administration, 
but  after  Tyler  came  into  office  plans  for  getting  Texas  were  seri 
ously  taken  up,  especially  by  some  of  the  Southern  enthusiasts. 
In  1844  Calhoun  became  Secretary  of  State.  He  bent  all  his 
energies  toward  the  desired  end.  A  treaty  of  annexation  was 
secretly  entered  into,  but  it  was  rejected  by  the  Senate.  Texas 
claimed  that  she  possessed  more  territory  than  the  original  Mex 
ican  province  of  that  name,  and  indeed  a  much  greater  territory 
than  she  had  ever  acquired  control  of.  She  claimed  all  east  and 
north  of  the  Rio  Grande.1  Annexation  of  the  State  and  adop- 

1  "That  is,  as  if  Maine  should  secede,  and  claim  that  her  boundaries 

were  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Potomac —     That  is,  as  if  Maine  should 

join  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and  England  should  set  up  a  claim  to  the 

New  England  and  Middle  States,  based  on  the  declaration  of  Maine  afore- 

22 


322  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

tion  of  her  claims  meant  ptobably  a  war  with  Mexico.     Such  was 
the  situation  when  the  election  of  1844  occurred. 

It  was  generally  supposed  that  Van  Buren  would  be  the 
Democratic  candidate  in  this  election.    But  he  opposed  the 

annexation  of  Texas,  and  was  defeated  in  the  con- 
Candidates  in  ,  •  T  TT-  Tt  11  r  m 

1844.  vention.     James  K.  Polk,  of  Tennessee,  was  nom 

inated  in  his  stead.  George  M.  Dallas,  of  Penn 
sylvania,  secured  the  nomination  for  Vice-President.1  Clay, 
too,  objected  to  bringing  Texas  into  the  Union,  but  the  Whigs 
nominated  him  with  enthusiasm,  and  gave  the  second  place  to 
Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  of  New  Jersey.  The  Liberal  party 
was  again  in  the  field,  with  Birney  and  Thomas  Morris  for  their 
candidates. 

The  burning  question  of  the  campaign  was  the  annexation 
of  Texas.     In  the  midst  of  the  contest,  Clay,  hoping  to  win 
friends  of  annexation  without  repelling  its  foes, 
Wnigs°  wrote  his  famous  Alabama  letters.     He  declared 

he  should  be  glad  to  see  the  annexation  of  Texas 
"without  dishonor,  without  war,  with  the  common  consent  of 
the  Union,  and  on  just  and  fair  terms".  He  did  not  think  "the 
subject  of  slavery  ought  to  affect  the  matter".  By  these  words 
he  lost  many  Northern  votes,  without  gaining  any  from  the 
South  or  from  the  extreme  annexationists,  who  were  now  shout 
ing  "  Texas  or  disunion" !  On  the  whole,  the  Whigs  were  strongly 
opposed  to  the  acquisition  of  more  slave  territory,  and  those  who 
were  not  averse  to  the  annexation  of  Texas  strongly  disapproved 
of  hasty  measures  and  the  studied  disregard  of  Mexico's  protests. 
The  Democratic  party,  however,  by  the  nomination  of  Polk 
Instead  of  Van  Buren,  and  by  the  direct  statements  of  its  plat 
form,  was  committed  to  annexation.  Many  Northern  Democrats 
doubtless  were  opposed  to  slavery  extension,  but  party  ties 

said".     (Sumner,  Andrew  Jackson,  p.  357.)    This  illustration  is  in  exag 
gerated  form,  but  shows  certain  aspects  of  the  Texas  situation. 

1  The  Democratic  platform  demanded  "  the  reoccupation  of  Oregon  and 
the  reannexation  of  Texas  at  the  earliest  practical  period".  These  words 
were  shrewdly  chosen  to  indicate  that  we  had  given  up  territory  that  was 
justly  ours. 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  TEXAS  QUESTION  323 

held  them  close,  and  they  voted  for  Polk  and  the  "reannexa- 

tion"  of  Texas.     This  was  a  turning  point  in  the  party  history, 

for  this  sympathy  with  a  movement  which  seemed 

The  Democrats.   .  **.•%'• 

intended,  in  large  part  at  least,  only  to  add  an 
other  slave  State  to  the  Union  alienated  a  number  of  old-time 
Democrats  at  the  North  and  won  new  adherents  at  the  South. 
The  small  farmers  of  the  Northern  States  had  from  the  beginning 
of  the  century  belonged  naturally  in  the  ranks  of  the  Democratic 
party  beside  the  agriculturists  of  the  South;  but  now  this  element 
began  to  drift  away  from  its  old  moorings,  either  into  the  Whig 
party  or  into  the  party  that  was  more  definitely  the  foe  of  slavery 
and  slavery  extension.  One  must  speak  here  only  of  tendencies 
and  beginnings;  for  these  changes  were  wrought  out  only  gradu 
ally.  But  we  shall  find  that,  in  the  course  of  fifteen  years,  the 
Democracy  lost  its  hold  upon  the  Northern  States,  and,  by  a 
careful  examination,  we  can  see  that  this  loss  took  its  marked 
beginnings  with  the  Texas  agitation  and  the  nomination  of  Polk.1 
The  election  was  an  exciting  contest.  While  Texas  was  the 
absorbing  topic,  many  sought  to  blind  their  own  eyes  or  those 
of  others  to  the  real  question.  The  tariff  was  dis- 
cussed  at  great  length,  and  at  the  North  especially 
both  parties  claimed  to  be  its  defenders.  Clay  had 
all  the  qualities  of  leadership  and  aroused  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  people.  His  party  was  devoted  to  him;  it  hardly 
seemed  possible  to  his  eager  followers  that  the  cold  and  austere 
Polk  could  defeat  the  peerless  Clay.  "Who  is  Polk,  anyway"? 
they  exclaimed.  But  the  Whigs  lost,  and  were  wofully  cast 
dbwn.  "It  was",  said  an  eye-witness,  "as  if  the  firstborn  of 
ejrery  family  had  been  stricken  down".2  The  Liberty  party 

1  The  large  number  of  German,  Scotch,  and  English  immigrants  now 
coming  into  the  country — the  Germans  especially  after  their  own  failures 
in  getting  liberal  government  (1848)— were  not  likely  to  take  their  places 
in  a  party  which  appeared  to  be  in  the  hands  of  Southern  slave  owners. 

2  Clay's  defeat  was  in  part  attributed  to  his  Alabama  letters,  which 
alienated  the  strong  anti-slavery  vote.    After  the  election,  a  disconsolate 
Whig  is  said  to  have  declared  that  he  wanted,  the  next  time,  a  candidate 
Who  could  neither  read  nor  writep      ,noi&Lmb&    gmrmonOD    isd   riliw 


324 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


cast  over  60,000  votes,  and  had  they  given  their  ballots  to  Clay 

he  would  have  been  elected. 

Tyler  and  his  helpmates,  intent  upon  the  annexation  of 

Texas,  believed  that  the  result  of  the  election  gave  full  warrant 
for  immediate  action.     Florida  and  Louisiana  had 

oM^exas011         keen  annexed  by  treaty.     But  Texas  was  an  inde 
pendent  power,  and  it  was  proposed  to  pass  a  joint 

resolution  inviting  her  into  the  Union.     If  a  treaty  were  made, 

it  would  be  necessary  that  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  should  vote 


TEXAS 

to  confirm  it,  and  such  a  vote  could  not  be  secured.  A  resolu 
tion  required  only  a  majority  of  each  House.  This,  then, 
seemed  the  only  feasible  plan  for  the  annexationists.  A  joint 
resolution  was  passed  giving  the  President  authority  either  to 
invite  Texas  into  the  Union  as  a  State  or  to  negotiate  formally 
with  her  concerning  admission.  It  declared  that  four  new 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  TEXAS  QUESTION  325 

States  besides  Texas  might  be  made  out  of  her  territory,  but 
that  in  any  new  States  so  formed  there  should  be  no  slavery 
north  of  36°  30'.  Tyler  did  not  hesitate  which  of  the  alterna 
tives  to  accept.  He  did  not  wish  to  leave  the  honor  of  annexa 
tion  to  Polk;  so  the  day  before  he  left  office  he  sent  off  a  messen- 
.  .  .  ger  in  hot  haste  to  the  "Lone  Star  Republic"  with 

The  admission  * 

of  Texas  the  proposals  for  immediate  union  (March,  1845)0 
thTeTcT*  °f  Texas>  of  course,  accepted  the  invitation.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  the  end ;  from  this  time  on  the  pol 
icy  of  slavery  extension  found  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
of  bitter  opponents  at  the  North.  Texas  was  the  last  slave  State 
admitted  to  the  Union.  Texas  claimed  all  the  land  north  and 
east  of  the  Rio  Grande  River  from  its  mouth  to  its  source,  and 
south  and  west  of  the  line  of  i8i9-'2i.  By  this  annexation  there 
was  added  to  the  United  States  376,163  square  miles  of  territory, 
an  area  greater  than  that  of  France  and  England  combined.  The 
accession  of  so  much  slave  territory  naturally  startled  the  North 
and  made  men  watchful  and  suspicious.  We  must  not  think 
that  there  was  as  yet  anything  like  a  united  sentiment  at  the 
North  against  the  extension  of  slavery,  but  every  year  and  every 
new  success  on  the  part  of  the  South  tended  to  awaken  and 
strengthen  anti-slavery  feeling.  Up  to  this  time  the  North  had 
rested  in  some  security,  because  slavery  was  hemmed  in  by  the 
Missouri  compromise  line  and  the  southern  and  western  limits 
of  the  Union.  In  the  future  there  was  to  be  little  security;  the 
annexation  of  Texas  showed  a  new  way  of  adding  to  the  limits 
of  slavery. 

James  K.  Polk  was  in  many  ways  a  remarkable  man.    When 
he  was  nominated  for  the  presidency  he  was  not  well  known, 

James  K  Polk  tnou8^  ne  na<^  ^een  m  Congress,  and  even  Speaker 
of  the  House.  But  when  he  assumed  office  it  be 
came  apparent  that  he  was  no  pygmy;  and  as  one  studies  his 
career  in  the  light  of  historical  evidence  it  is  seen  that  he  was  in 
some  sort  a  man  of  iron,  with  unyielding  determination  and  un 
flinching  purpose.  He  was  a  keen  and  unrelenting  partisan,  but 
conscientiously  devoted  to  the  interests  of  his  country  as  he  saw 
them.  Altogether  pure  and  upright  in  private  life,  in  politics 


326  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

his  feelings  were  not  delicate;  there  was  a  certain  hard,  narrow 
intensity  and  keenness  about  him,  which  were  not  conducive 
to  generous  and  magnanimous  views  in  politics  or  diplomacy. 
His  cabinet  was  composed  of  able  men.  The  more  important 
were  James  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  Secretary  of  State; 
Robert  J.  Walker,  of  Mississippi,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury; 
William  L.  Marcy,  of  New  York,  Secretary  of  War;  George 
Bancroft,  of  Massachusetts,  the  historian,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  his  administration  the  President 

privately  announced  the  purpose  not  only  of  establishing  the 

independent  Treasury  and  reducing  the  tariff,  but 

1*'         '*  also  of  settling  the  northwestern  boundary  trouble 


and  acquiring  California.  He  succeeded  in  ac 
complishing  all  these  objects.  The  independent  Treasury  was 
reestablished.  A  new  tariff  act  was  passed  materially  lowering 
the  duties  and  making  inroads  upon  the  protective  system  so 
dear  to  the  Whigs.  How  he  achieved  his  other  objects  we  shall 
see  as  we  go  on. 

Texas,  as  we  have  seen,  accepted  the  invitation  to  enter  the 
Union.  This  was  in  the  summer  of  1845.  Congress  installed 
her  as  a  State  in  the  Union  in  December  of  that  year.  Before 
that  was  done,  however  —  before,  in  fact,  Texas  was  legally  part 
of  the  United  States  —  Polk  sent  troops  within  her  boundaries  to 
defend  her  against  possible  attack,  and  to  make  sure  that  an 
nexation  was  not  interrupted  by  Mexican  interference.  General 
Zachary  Taylor  was  ordered  to  Texas,  and  in  November  had 
about  four  thousand  men  in  his  command.  He  took  a  position 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Nueces  River. 

While  the  plans  for  the  acquisition  of  Texas  were  being  thus 
carried  to  a  successful  end,  hopes  of  new  possessions  in  the 

Northwest  were  likewise   awakened.     For   some 

tfonJ*  Oregon.  years  the  land  bevond  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
north  of  California,  known  as  the  Oregon  country, 
had  been  jointly  occupied  by  England  and  the  United  States; 
each  claimed  the  title,  but  for  the  time  being  agreed  not  to  de 
mand  exclusive  rights  there.  Our  demands  were  based  (i)  on 
the  Louisiana  purchase,  a  shadowy  title,  (2)  upon  the  Spanish 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  TEXAS  QUESTION 


327 


cession  of  i8i9-'2i,  (3)  upon  early  exploration,  and  (4)  upon 
settlement  and  occupation.  England's  claims  were  similar. 
She  claimed  by  discovery,  basing  her  title  in  the  first  place  on 
the  voyage  of  Drake  in 
the  time  of  Queen  Eliz 
abeth.  Later  explora 
tion  helped  to  substan 
tiate  her  title,  and 
settlements  had  been 
made  by  English  sub 
jects  on  Nootka  Sound 
even  at  the  end  of  the 
last  century.  Of  the 
valley  of  the  Columbia, 
however,  or  at  least  the 
larger  portion  of  it,  we 
were  fairly  well  assured, 
because  for  some  years 
emigrants  from  the 
States  had  been  making 
their  way  thither,  and 
even  now  (1845-46)  the 
emigrant  wagons  were 
carrying  many  new  set 
tlers  to  the  region.  This 
actual  occupation  gave 
us  nine  clear  points  in 
law.  The  "reoccupa-  Showing  the  claims  of  Great  Britain  and  the 
A.  ",,  e  r\  '  i  United  States  and  the  lines  established  by 

tion      of    Oregon    had      various  treaties 
been  coupled  in  the  pres 
idential  campaign  with  the  "  reannexation "  of  Texas,  for  we 
claimed  both  under  the  Louisiana  treaty,  and  now,  after  the  inau 
guration  of  Polk,  there  was  a  popular  demand,  especially  from  the 
Western  States,  for  "the  whole  of  Oregon",  and  the  cry  was 
raised  of  "Fifty-four  forty  or  fight".1    It  looked  for  a  time,  in- 

1  Fifty-four  forty  was  the  southern  point  of  Alaska,  then  in  the 
sion  of  Russia,  known  as  Russian  America. 


THE  OREGON  COUNTRY 


328  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

deed,  as  if  war  might  ensue,  because  it  could  hardly  be 
hoped  that  England  would  consent  to  having  her  American 
dominions  limited  by  the  Rocky  Mountains.  •  The  difficulty 
was  finally  settled,  however,  by  a  compromise.  The  forty- 
ninth  parallel  already  marked  the  division  between  the  British 
dominions  and  those  of  the  United  States  as  far  west  as  the 
mountains,  and  the  same  line  was  now  agreed  upon  as  the 
boundary  through  to  the  Pacific.1 

War  did  not  break  out  immediately  upon  the  annexation 
of  Texas,  as  might  well  have  been  the  case.  The  claims  of 
Texas  were  so  extraordinary  that  Mexico  could 
.Texas?**'  not  acmiit  them  to  be  just,  inasmuch  as  they  in 
cluded  not  alone  the  old  province  of  Texas,  but  a 
large  territory  besides  over  which  the  State  had  not  succeeded 
in  establishing  control,  and  to  which  she  had  title  only  by  asser 
tion.  What  were  the  boundaries  of  Texas  as  a  province  of 
Mexico  is  somewhat  difficult  to  say,  and,  in  fact,  what  they  were 
makes  little  difference.  The  Texans  had  certainly  not  made 
good,  by  war  and  occupation,  a  title  to  more  than  so  much  of 
the  Mexican  territory  as  lay  north  of  the  Nueces  River  and  east 
of  the  present  eastern  boundary  of  New  Mexico.  By  our  assump 
tion  of  the  claim  of  Texas  to  all  the  land  north  and  east  of  the 
Rio  Grande  from  its  mouth  to  its  source,  and  by  any  endeavor 
to  follow  up  our  claim  by  taking  actual  possession  of  the  dis 
puted  portion,  we  were  sure  to  bring  on  war,  unless  Mexico  was 
submissive  and  ready  to  bow  before  the  superior  strength  of  the 
United  States.  But  such  was  not  the  case.  Poor,  weak,  torn 
by  internal  strife  and  dissension,  the  Mexicans  still  retained  a 
modicum  of  their  old  Spanish  spirit.  They  were  not  given  to 
self-control  at  the  best,  and  were  now  greatly  irritated. 


1  The  statement  in  the  text  is  substantially  accurate,  but  it  is  worth 
remarking  that  the  line  ran  to  sea  water,  and  then  followed  the  middle  of 
the  channel  dividing  Vancouver's  Island  from  the  main,  and  then  through 
the  middle  of  Fuca  Strait.  A  dispute  later  arose  as  to  what  was  the  middle 
or  the  main  channel.  In  1872  the  German  Emperor,  chosen  as  arbitrator, 
gave  his  decision  in  favor  of  America.  Thus  ninety  years  elapsed  (1782- 
^872)  before  our  northern  line  was  finally  determined.  See  map,  p.  337. 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  TEXAS  QUESTION  329 

Historians  have  long  been  troubled  by  the  Texas  affair  and 
the  resulting  war  with  Mexico;  the  whole  incident  has  often  been 
considered  the  work  of  sly,  underhanded  manage- 
ment-  The  annexation  of  Texas  certainly  has  its 
dark  side,  for  we  claimed  more  than  the  real 
Texas.  But  we  are  not  so  ready  now  to  denounce  the  whole 
transaction  as  we  were  a  few  years  ago,  when  every  act  that 
added  to  slave  territory  seemed  to  Northern  writers  of  history 
to  bear  a  dark  and  bitter  stain.  If  Mexico  was  in  straits  and 
was  greatly  irritated,  the  situation  for  us  was  also  full  of  annoy 
ance,  and  we  now  know  that  England  and  France  were  anxious 
to  keep  Texas  out  of  our  hands  chiefly  because  they  disliked 
American  growth.  Even  Mexico  had  reluctantly  prepared  to 
acknowledge  the  independence  of  Texas  if  she  would  not  join 
the  United  States. 

Undoubtedly  Polk  wanted  California,  to  which,  of  course, 
we  had  absolutely  no  claim.  The  great  Western  lands  beyond 
the  mountains  lay  almost  undeveloped,  almost  as  untouched  as 
they  were  when  the  little  Roman  Catholic  mission  was  founded 
on  the  magnificent  harbor  that  was  named  after  the  noble  Saint 
Francis;  the  whole  region  was  held  in  the  nerveless,  incompetent 
hands  of  Mexico.  While  we  cannot  say  that  Polk  deliberately 
picked  a  quarrel  with  Mexico  in  order  to  get  the  harbor  and  an 
nex  the  Western  region,  undoubtedly  that  desire  influenced  him, 
and  the  air  was  full  of  expansion  spirit,  a  spirit  quite  as  much 
Western  as  Southern.1  Had  Mexico  been  strong  and  reasonable, 
all  our  longing  for  San  Francisco  harbor  would  have  proved  no 
excuse  for  pouncing  upon  it;  had  we  been  more  generous,  had 
we  felt  more  sympathy  for  the  feeble,  excitable  Mexicans,  per 
haps  we  should  have  obtained  it  without  resorting  to  the  brutal 
decision  of  arms.  The  Far  West,  which  soon  proved  to  be 
golden,  belonged  perhaps  by  a  manifest  destiny  to  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  man;  but  we  should  gladly  look  back  upon  the  acquisition 

1Well  expressed  in  1848  by  a  senator  from  Illinois  who  took  to  poetry 
to  express  his  sentiments. — 

"No  pent-up  Utica  contracts  our  powers, 
But  the  whole  boundless  continent  is  ours". 


330  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

of  the  vast  territory  as  the  product  of  peaceful  expansion  and  be 
clear  in  our  own  minds  that  we  had  always  treated  the  difficult 
Mexicans  with  exaggerated  generosit}^  and  patience. 

Although  one  must  acknowledge  that  the  South  was  moved 
by  a  desire  to  attain  more  territory  for  slavery,  that  the  Western 

spirit  of  expansion  was  aggressive,  and  that  Polk 
Geography  and  was  not  precisely  magnanimous  in  his  treatment  of 
destiny!  Mexico,  we  should  not  forget  that  the  American 

feeling  of  manifest  destiny  had  a  physical  basis. 
Texas  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  part  of  the  central  valley  of 
the  continent,  the  greater  portion  of  which  had  become  part  of  the 
American  possessions;  the  Rio  Grande  seemed  to  be  the  only 
reasonable  halting  place  in  the  forward  movement  of  the  popu 
lation  toward  the  Southwest.  This  energetic  forward  move 
ment  into  the  unsettled  regions  of  the  West  had  been  going  on 
since  the  English  colonists  first  settled  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and 
with  redoubled  energy  since  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Aptitude  for  settling  new  areas  and  for  subduing  the 
wilderness,  zeal  for  more  land  and  wider  dominion,  had  become 
national  traits.  "It  would  be  vain  to  expect",  said  Calhoun, 
"that  we  could  prevent  our  people  from  penetrating  into  Cali 
fornia.  Even  before  our  present  difficulties  with  Mexico  the 
process  had  begun.  We  alone  can  people  this  region  with  an 
industrious  and  civilized  race,  which  can  develop  its  resources 
and  add  a  new  and  extensive  region  to  the  domain  of  commerce 
and  civilization".1  Ben  ton  was  opposed  to  the  methods  of 
annexation,  and  denounced  intrigue;  but  he  desired  the  acquisi 
tion  of  the  country  by  honorable  means.  His  words  show  us 
that  the  movement  was  not  merely  a  Southern  conspiracy  to 

1  These  wo^ds  were  spoken  after  the  war  with  Mexico  had  begun.  Cal 
houn,  it  may  be  said,  was  opposed  to  the  war,  but  believed  that  our  acqui 
sition  of  the  West  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  We  must  remember  that 
from  the  very  beginning  of  English  colonization  the  settlers  in  America  had 
been  pitted  against  other  nations  for  the  possession  of  the  continent.  The 
acquisition  of  Texas  and  California  was  another  step  in  the  great  contest 
with  Spain  for  dominion  in  America — a  contest  that  began  with  Sir  Humph 
rey  Gilbert  and  his  desire  to  build  up  a  colonial  realm  for  England  and  to 
weaken  the  power  of  Spain.  (See  chapter  ii.) 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  TEXAS  QUESTION  331 

extend  slavery.  "We  want  Texas",  he  said — "that  is  to  say, 
the  Texas  of  La  Salle;  and  we  want  it  for  great  natural  reasons 
obvious  as  day,  and  permanent  as  Nature". 

REFERENCES 

WILSON,  Division  and  Reunion,  pp.  117-149;  BURGESS,  Middle 
Period,  Chapters  XI,  XIII-XV;  VON  HOLST,  Calhoun,  pp.  123-274; 
MORSE,  John  Quincy  Adams,  pp.  242-306;  SCHURZ,  Henry  Clay, 
Volume  II,  Chapters  XVII,  XXI,  XXIV,  Chapter  XXV  to  p.  283. 
Longer  accounts:  SCHOULER,  Volume  IV,  pp.  202-226,  245-256,  296- 
313,  422-523;  MCMASTER,  Volume  VI,  pp.  271-298, 467-493,  Volume 
VII,  pp.  228-439;  GARRISON,  Westward  Extension,  Chapters  I,  II, 
VI-XI,  XIII-XIV.  The  general  subject  of  slavery  is  discussed  in 
HART,  Slavery  and  Abolition,  especially  Chapters  XII,  XVIII.  For 
a  general  view  of  the  slavery  issue  in  American  history,  see  J.  F. 
RHODES,  History  of  the  United  States  since  the  Compromise  of  1850, 
Volume  I,  Chapter  I.  For  conditions  in  the  South  see  Chapter  IV 
of  the  same  work. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

WAR  WITH  MEXICO;   SHALL   SLAVE-TERRITORY 
BE  INCREASED? 

The  land  between  the  Nueces  River  and  the  Rio  Grande 
was  claimed  by  the  United  States  as  a  part  of  Texas;  but  Mexico 
was  not  ready  to  give  up  her  title.  In  the  early 
part  of  1846  Polk,  without  sending  word  of  his 
intention  to  Congress,  which  was  then  in  session,  ordered  Gen 
eral  Taylor  to  take  a  position  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande. 
Taylor  obeyed,  and,  moving  to  the  river,  intrenched  himself 
opposite  the  Mexican  town  of  Matamoras,  where  there  were 
Mexican  troops.  "The  armies  being  thus  in  presence,  with 
anger  in  their  bosoms  and  arms  in  tiieir  hands,  that  took  place 
which  everybody  foresaw  must  tako  place — collisions  and  hos 
tilities".1  A  detachment  of  Mexican  troops  was  sent  across  the 
river,  and  a  small  body  of  Americans  was  attacked  and  a  few 
were  killed.  When  the  news  reached  the  President,  he  sent  a 
message  to  Congress  declaring  that  "Mexico  has  passed  the 
boundary  of  the  United  States,  has  invaded  our  territory,  and 
shed  American  blood  upon  American  soil".  War  existed,  he 
declared,  notwithstanding  all  efforts  to  avoid  it,  and  existed  "by 
the  act  of  Mexico  herself".  Congress  declared,  May  13,  1846, 
that  war  existed  by  act  of  Mexico.  Money  was  appropriated, 
and  the  President  was  authorized  to  call  for  fifty  thousand 
volunteers. 

There  was  now  no  help  for  it,  and  the  country  prepared  for 
war.  It  was  from  the  first  popular  with  many.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  a  strong  element  was  bitterly  opposed,  not  knowing 
in  their  bewilderment  where  the  land  hunger  of  the  nation 

1  Benton,  Thirty  Years'  View,  vol.  ii,  p.  679. 
332 


MEXICAN  WAR;  SLAVE  TERRITORY  333 

would  carry  it.  To  the  Whigs  it  seemed  a  Democratic  war. 
Not  all  were  opposed;  but  some  of  those  who  had  been  averse 
to  the  annexation  of  Texas  were  ready  to  denounce 
War  unpopular  these  bloody  consequences.  To  the  antislavery 
element  at  the  North  it  seemed  a  war  on  be 
half  of  slavery  and  for  the  extension  of  slave 
territory.  The  feelings  of  these  men  were  well  voiced  in 
the  Biglow  Papers,  which  were  at  this  juncture  written 
by  James  Russell  Lowell  and  were  very  widely  read.  The 
keen  sarcasm  and  homely  humor  of  these  verses — more 
effective  than  argument — made  converts  to  the  antislav 
ery  cause;  the  war  was  more  seriously  attacked  in  these 
telling  lines  than  by  scores  of  pamphlets  and  speeches.1 

The  first  engagement  of  the  war  took  place  on  the  northern 
side  of  the  Rio  Grande.     Taylor's  defences  were  attacked  in  his 
absence,  but  the  garrison  obeyed  to  the  letter  the 
battle^  instructions  which  their  general  had  left:  "Defend 

the  fort  to  the  death".  The  attack  was  repulsed. 
Then  followed  the  battles  of  Palo  Alto  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma, 
May  8  and  9, 1846.  The  Americans,  under  Taylor,  were  greatly 
outnumbered,  but  fought  with  gallantry.  The  Mexicans  were 
defeated,  and  withdrew  across  the  Rio  Grande.  The  Americans 
followed,  and  occupied  Matamoras.  After  waiting  here  for  a 
time  that  reinforcements  might  be  obtained,  they  pushed  on 
into  the  enemy's  country,  and  in  September  reached  Monterey, 
a  strongly  fortified  city.  Here  there  was  heavy  fighting,  but 
battery  after  battery  was  taken  by  assault,  and  the  place  fell. 
Taylor  then  moved  forward  again.  In  February  (1847)  oc" 

lul  dunno  but  wut  it's  pooty, 

Trainin'  round  in  bobtail  coats, — 
But  it's  cur'us  Christian  dooty, 
This  'ere  cuttin'  folks's  throats. 


They  jest  want  this  Californy 

So's  to  lug  new  slave  States  in 
To  abuse  ye,  an'  to  scorn  ye. 
An'  to  plunder  ye  like  sin". 


334 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


curred  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista.  The  Mexicans  had  four 
times  as  many  troops  as  the  Americans,  but  the  American  army 
was  posted  in  a  strong  position.  The  Mexicans  fought  with 
great  courage  and  obstinacy,  but  they  were  beaten  again.  The 
whole  of  the  surrounding  country,  by  reason  of  this  victory,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Americans. 


FIELD  OF  THE  WAR  WITH  MEXICO 

In   the   meantime   General   Kearney   marched   across   the 
plains  to  Santa  Fe,  hoisted  the  American  flag  there,  and  pro 
claimed  New  Mexico  a  part  of  the  United  States. 
He  then  marched  on  into  California,  and  reached 
San  Diego.     Long  before  his  arrival,  however,  the 
principal  part  of  that  region  had  passed  into  our  hands.     For 
some  time  a  squadron  had  been  kept  on  the  Western  coast,  ready 


MEXICAN  WAR ;  SLAVE  TERRITORY  335 

to  pounce  upon  the  prize.  When  war  was  begun — in  fact,  even 
before  it  was  known  that  an  express  declaration  had  been  made 
— Monterey  was  seized.  San  Francisco  and  other  chief  harbors 
were  also  occupied. 

A  new  movement  was  begun  in  the  early  spring  of  1847. 

General  Scott  took  Vera  Cruz,  and  began  a  march  to  the  city 

of  Mexico.    A  fierce  battle  took  place  at  Cerro 

General  Scott's     ^^  where  ^  Mexicans>  as  usual>  fought  with 

bravery,  and,  as  usual,  were  beaten.1  Scott  led 
his  army  forward  again,  meeting  with  little  opposition  until  near 
the  enemy's  capital.  Here  there  were  strong  defences;  but  the 
Americans  won  a  series  of  unbroken  victories.  The  soldiers 
fought  bravely,  while  Scott  and  his  lieutenants  showed  great 
skill  and  daring.  In  September  the  heights  of  Chapultepec 
were  stormed  and  the  city  of  Mexico  was  taken.  Peace  was 
soon  after  concluded.2 

The  war  was  not  concluded — indeed,  was  hardly  well  begun 
— before  the  inevitable  slavery  question  arose  in  Congress.     In 
August,  1846,  the  President  asked  for  money  to 
proviso11"          a^  m  Drmgmg  the  war  to  a  close.     It  was  sup 
posed  that  the  money  was  to  be  used  to  buy  terri 
tory,  and  a  bill  was  introduced  into  the  House  appropriating 


1  General  Grant,  who  served  as  a  second  lieutenant  in  this  war,  speaks 
thus  of  the  Mexican  troops:  "The  Mexicans,  as  on  many  other  occasions, 
stood  up  as  well  as  any  troops  ever  did.    The  trouble  seemed  to  be  the  lack 
of  experience  among  the  officers,  which  led  them  after  a  certain  time  to 
quit,  without  being  particularly  whipped,  but  because  they  had  fought 
enough".    This  remark  is  characteristic  of  Grant,  who  did  not  fight  in  that 
way  himself. 

2  This  was  in  one  way  a  remarkable  war.    Our  troops  won  every  pitched 
battle.    Scott  marched  for  two  hundred  miles  and  more  into  the  enemy's 
country,  and  wrested  stronghold  after  stronghold  from  the  hands  of  greatly 
superior  forces.    This  war  was  in  marked  contrast  with  the  War  of  1812. 
Both  were  party  wars;  but  in  this  one  the  generals  were  fit  to  command, 
and  the  soldiers  were  thoroughly  disciplined  and  equipped.    Many  of  the 
generals  who  afterward  became  prominent  in  the  Civil  War  obtained  in 
Mexico  their  first  practical  lessons  in  military  art.    Ulysses  S.  Grant  and 
Robert  E.  Lee  served  in  subordinate  positions,  both  with  credit.    This  war, 
in  more  than  one  sense,  was  the  precursor  of  the  civil  war. 


336  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

two  million  dollars.  David  Wilmot,  a  Democratic  Represen 
tative  from  Pennsylvania,  proposed  that  there  be  added  to  the 
bill  a  proviso  that  slavery  should  never  exist  within  any  territory 
acquired  from  Mexico.  The  bill  with  this  proviso  passed  the 
House,  but  did  not  pass  the  Senate.  The  same  contest  between 
the  two  houses  took  place  the  next  year;  but  the  Senate  finally 
won,  and  an  appropriation  of  three  million  dollars  was  made 
without  the  anti-slavery  condition.  The  "Wilmot  proviso"  was 
for  several  years  used  as  a  general  phrase — not  with  special  ref 
erence  to  the  amendment  of  Wilmot,  but  to  the  principle  which 
it  contained.  All  who  were  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery 
were  said  to  be  in  favor  of  the  "Wilmot  proviso". 

By  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo  (Febru 
ary  2,  1848),  the  United  States  became  possessed  not  only  of  the 
disputed  territory,  which  had  been  claimed  by 
The  treaty  of      Texas,  but  of  a  vast  territory  to  the  west  as  well. 

Guadaloupe  ,  ,  ..  '  • 

Hidalgo.  The  boundary  line  agreed  upon  ran  up  the  Rio 

Grande  to  the  southern  boundary  of  New  Mexico, 
thence  along  the  southern  boundary  to  the  western  limit  of  New 
Mexico,  up  these  western  limits  to  the  Gila  River,  thence  along 
that  river  to  the  Colorado,  and  from  the  junction  of  these  two 
rivers  followed  the  line  dividing  Upper  and  Lower  California  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean.1  The  United  States  paid  $15,000,000  in  cash, 
and  agreed  to  pay  in  addition  claims  of  its  citizens  on  the  Mex 
ican  Government  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  $3,250,000,  and 
other  claims  already  definitely  allowed  by  Mexico.  A  glance 
at  the  map  will  show  how  much  was  secured  by  this  cession  as 
the  fruit  of  the  war.  There  was  thus  added  to  the  United 
States  about  875,000  square  miles,  including  Texas  and  what  is 
now  the  State  of  California. 


1  In  1853,  due  to  the  fact  that  some  question  had  arisen  about  this 
boundary,  and  because  a  proposed  route  for  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific  ran 
somewhat  south  of  our  line  at  the  Gila  River,  another  purchase  was  made 
from  Mexico.  This  was  known  as  the  Gadsden  purchase,  ahd  included 
47.330  square  miles.  The  map  will  show  the  land  so  acquired.  The  sum 
paid  was  $10,000,000. 


MEXICAN  WAR;  SLAVE  TERRITORY 


337 


ACQUISITION  OF  TERRITORY 
IN  THE  WEST  1803-53 

The  line  marked  XY  was  undetermined 
md  in  dispute  and  partly  on  this  account1 
the  GADSDEN  PURCHASE  was  made 


The  result  of  Folk's  aggressive  policy,  aided  by  Southern 
zeal  and  the  native  land  hunger  of  the  nation,  was  an  astonish 
ing  increase  of  the  national  domain  in  the  course 
of  four  years.  March  4,  1845,  the  western  boun 
dary  of  the  United  States  was  the  line  of  1819,  and 
we  occupied,  jointly  with  Great  Britain,  the  Oregon  country. 
In  1848  the  republic1  stretched  from  sea  to  sea,  and  as  far  south 
as  the  Rio  Grande  River.  The  Bay  of  San  Francisco,  the  cov- 


Territorial 
expansion. 


338  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

eted  harbor  of  the  western  coast,  was  in  our  hands.  If  we  in 
clude  Oregon  in  the  acquisitions  of  this  administration,  over 
1,000,000  square  miles  were  added  to  American  territory,  more 
than  the  whole  area  of  the  United  States  when  its  independence 
was  acknowledged  by  Great  Britain.1 

The  country  might  well  be  lifted  up  as  it  contemplated  its 

"  greatness  and  exalted  the  courage  and  skill  of  our  soldiers  in 

Mexico.     But  the  acquisition  of  this  new  territory 

foreboding!"*  was  at  once  tne  cause  °f  great  foreboding  and  of 
deep  and  bitter  feeling.  Territorial  expansion  was 
especially  in  favor  at  the  South,  and  yet,  even  before  the  war 
was  ended,  and  before  the  land  for  which  the  soldiers  were  right 
ing  was  securely  wrested  from  Mexico,  the  slaveholders  saw  men 
at  the  North  asserting  that  slavery  should  not  be  admitted  into 
any  part  of  the  territory  acquired.  To  many  at  the  South  this 
seemed  like  robbing  them  of  the  just  spoils  of  conquest. 

The  people  were  fully  awake  to  the  momentousness  of  the 
issue.  The  North  was  divided.  Few  were  desirous  of  seeing 
slavery  admitted  to  the  new  territory;  but  many 
be  extended?  were  not  in  sympathy  with  a  policy  which  would 
rigidly  exclude  the  Southerner  with  his  human 
property,  because  they  believed  that  the  question  would  settle 
itself,  if  men  would  only  consent  to  let  it  alone.  Such  persons 
looked  upon  "agitation"  as  the  great  evil,  because  discussion 
of  the  slavery  question  angered  the  South  and  endangered  the 
Union.  Others,  an  increasing  number,  were  now  flatly  opposed 
to  further  extension  of  slavery,  and  they  demanded  the  prin 
ciple  of  the  Wilmot  proviso  without  qualification  and  without 
delay.  Let  us  not  mistake  the  situation.  It  is  not  true  that 
for  fifteen  years  before  the  civil  war  a  solid  North  faced  a  solid 
South.  The  South  naturally  was  nearly  a  unit  on  the  principle 


Square  miles.  Square  miles. 

1  Texas  (1845) 376,163  Austrian  Empire. 240,942 

First  Mexican  cession....     545,753  Germany,  France,  and  Spain     613,093 

Oregon 284,828  Sweden  and  Italy 285,383 


1,206,744 


MEXICAN  WAR;  SLAVE  TERRITORY  339 

of  extending  slavery,  or  at  least  declared  the  slaveholders'  right 
to  move  into  the  new  possessions  of  the  nation — possessions 
obtained  by  the  expenditure  of  national  blood  and  treasure. 
On  the  other  hand,  Northern  sentiment  was  divided;  only  a 
minority  were  deeply  enough  in  earnest  to  make  opposition  to 
slavery  the  first  and  controlling  motive  of  political  conduct. 
As  the  years  went  by  this  number  grew  larger,  until  sorhething 
like  a  solid  North  faced  a  solid  South.  It  will  be  our  task  to 
watch  the  phases  of  this  movement  toward  a  unity  of  sentiment 
at  the  North.1 

In  1847,  General  Lewis  Cass,  then  Senator  from  Michigan 
and  a  leader  in  the  Democratic  party,  wrote  his  famous  Nichol 
son  letter.  He  had  been  a  prominent  candidate 
^or  ^e  presidential  nomination  in  1844,  and  was 
now  mentioned  as  the  standard  bearer  of  the  party 
in  the  ensuing  campaign.  His  letter,  when  published,  there 
fore  won  attention.  It  announced  a  new  doctrine.  It  declared 
that  the  National  Government  ought  not  to  interfere  with  the 
domestic  concerns  of  the  Territories,  and,  in  short,  asserted  that 
the  existence  of  slavery  was  a  question  with  which  the  people  of 
the  Territories  must  deal  themselves.  He  even  denied  that 
Congress  had  the  constitutional  authority  to  regulate  the  in 
ternal  affairs  of  a  Territory.  "I  do  not  see  in  the  Constitution 
any  grant  of  the  requisite  power  to  Congress;  and  I  am  not  dis 
posed  to  extend  a  doubtful  precedent  beyond  its  necessity — the 
establishment  of  Territorial  governments,  when  needed — leav 
ing  to  the  inhabitants  all  the  rights  compatible  with  the  relation 
they  bear  to  the  Confederation".  Thus  was  stated  the  doctrine 
later  known  as  " popular  sovereignty". 

By  the  summer  of  1848  there  were  four  propositions  before 
the  country  concerning  slavery  in  the  territory  acquired  from 


1  The  student  must  not  be  confused  by  details  and  prevented  from  see 
ing  the  main  drift  and  meaning  of  events.  From  now  on  to  1861  the  ques 
tion  ever  growing  more  important  was  whether  or  not  slavery  should  be 
hemmed  inside  its  old  limits,  or  be  allowed  to  expand  and  occupy  the 
West. 


340  HISTORY  6F  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Mexico,     (i)  That  of  Calhoun,  who  declared  that  the  territory 
so  acquired  belonged  to  the  States,  and  that  a  Southern  man 

Different  propo-  haC*  aS  g°OC*  a  right  tO    CSiTT^  m'S    slaVC  with    h*m 

sitions  regard-  into  the  Federal  domain  as  a  Northern  man  had 
ing  slavery  to  take  his  sheep  or  his  oxen.  (2)  The  doctrine  of 
the  Wilmot  proviso,  which  declared  it  to  be  the 
moral  duty  of  Congress  to  keep  slavery  out  of  the  public  domain. 
The  most  ardent  advocates  of  this  principle  denied  that  Con 
gress  had  the  right  to  legalize  slavery  in  national  territory. 
(3)  The  doctrine  of  the  Nicholson  letter.  (4)  The  extension 
of  the  line  of  36°  30'  through  to  the  Pacific  as  the  boundary  be 
tween  slavery  and  freedom.  The  idea  was  already  spread 
abroad  among  the  Northern  people  that  this  new  West  was  ill 
adapted  to  slave  labor;  many  therefore  favored  a  policy  of  neg 
lect,  hoping  thereby  to  soothe  the  South,  whose  peculiar  insti 
tution  would  be  driven  from  the  region  by  Nature  herself,  whose 
laws  were  stronger  than  any  enactments  of  men.  Persons  hold 
ing  this  idea  were  likely  to  support  either  the  third  or  the  fourth 
of  the  propositions  just  given. 

As  the  presidential  campaign  approached  the  Democratic 
party  found  itself  divided.  In  New  York  there  were  the  "Old 
The  Democrats  Hunkers">  and  the  "Barnburners".1  The  latter 
faction  was  personally  devoted  to  Van  Buren,  and 
expressed  its  "uncompromising  hostility  to  the  extension  of 
slavery  into  territory  now  free".  The  Hunkers  were  "stand 
patters",  willing  to  take  the  whole  "hunk",  and  keeping  quiet 
on  the  slavery  issue.  The  National  Democratic  Convention 
nominated  Cass  for  the  presidency,  and  William  O.  Butler,  of 
Kentucky,  for  the  vice-presidency.  A  platform  was  adopted 
full  of  safe  sayings,  but  not  definitely  committing  the  party  on 
the  slavery  question. 

The  Whigs,  too,  were  not  united.  In  the  East  there  were 
"Conscience  Whigs"  and  "Cotton  Whigs".  In  the  Northwest 
there  was  a  strong  anti-slavery  element.  The  leaders  of  the  party 
at  large,  however,  were  desirous  of  avoiding  the  dread  issue, 

1  For  the  origin  of  these  names  see  Shephard's  Van  Buren,  p.  354;  Mc- 
Laughlin's  Cass,  p.  237. 


MEXICAN  WAR;  SLAVE  TERRITORY  341 

and  the  convention,  when  it  met,  firmly  held  its  peace  on  the 
great  question  which  everybody  knew  was  in  everybody's 
The  whi  s  thoughts.  Clay  was  still  popular,  but  many 
feared  his  candidacy.  Now  was  the  time  to  win 
again,  as  the  party  had  won  eight  years  before,  by  nominating 
a  popular  soldier  unembarrassed  by  a  political  past;  and  so 
General  Taylor  was  put  in  nomination.  Millard  Fillmore,  of 
New  York,  was  nominated  for  Vice-President.  These  nomina 
tions  meant  nothing,  except  that  the  Whigs  did  not  dare  to  an 
nounce  principles,  but  hoped  for  success  by  mere  dint  of  shout 
ing  for  "Old  Rough  and  Ready",  as  Taylor  was  called. 

The  anti-slavery  Whigs  had  hoped  for  an  anti-slavery  plat 
form,  and  when  they  found  the  party  ready  to  hide  itself  behind 
a  popular  name  they  declared  that  they  would  not 
^e  bound  by  party  ties.  The  Barnburners  and 
other  dissatisfied  Democrats  were  likewise  aroused 
and  ready  for  independent  action.  In  August  a  convention  at 
Buffalo  nominated  Martin  Van  Buren  and  Charles  Francis 
Adams.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Free-soil  party.  The 
Liberty  party  coalesced  with  it.  It  was  devoted,  without  shad 
ow  of  turning,  to  the  principle  of  free  soil.  "Congress",  it  de 
clared,  "has  no  more  right  to  make  a  slave  than  to  make  a  king", 
"Thunders  of  applause"  are  said  to  have  followed  the  reading 
from  the  platform  of  such  sentences  as  this:  "Resolved,  that  we 
inscribe  on  our  banner  free  soil,  free  speech,  free  labor,  and  free 
men,  and  under  it  we  will  fight  on  and  fight  ever,  until  a  tri 
umphant  victory  shall  reward  our  exertions".  The  great 
revolt  at  the  North  against  slavery  extension  was  fairly 
begun. 

Thus  there  were  three  candidates  in  the  field.  Two  of  the 
parties  refused  to  express  definite  opinions  on  the  slavery  ques 
tion;  but  one  of  them  nominated  a  slave  owner,  and  the  other 
chose  as  its  leader  the  man  who  had  given  out  his  belief  that 
Congress  could  not  legislate  on  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the 
Territories.  Taylor  and  Fillmore  were  elected.  The  Free- 
soilers  cast  over  two  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  votes,  and 
held  the  balance  of  power  in  some  of  the  Northern  States. 


342 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Although  both  of  the  old  parties  blinded  their  eyes  to  the  great 
problem,  it  remained  to  be  solved,  and  could  not  be  escaped. 
Moreover,  there  were  tens  of  thousands  of  men  at  the  North 
that  were  now  insisting  that  it  must  be  solved  by  a  recognition 
of  principle. 

General  Taylor's  life  up  to  the  time  of  his  election  to  the 

Presidency  had  been  spent  in  large  measure  as  a  soldier  in  the 

regular  army.     He  owned  a  plantation  in  Louisi- 

Zachary  Taylor.  .          J      .  .          . 

ana  and  several  hundred  slaves.  He  was  an  hon 
est,  straightforward  man,  free  from  all  pretence,  with  a  soldierly 
devotion  to  duty,  and  with  a  very  clear  sense  of  right  and  justice. 

In  political  experience  he  was 
totally  lacking,  and  his  knowl 
edge  of  public  men  and  events 
was  necessarily  limited.  He  is 
said  to  have  supposed,  until  a 
short  time  before  his  arrival  at 
Washington  to  assume  office, 
that  the  Vice-President  was  ex 
officio  a  member  of  his  Cabinet. 
In  spite  of  his  unfamiliarity  with 
the  formalities  and  duties  of 
his  position,  his  frankness  and 
honesty  did  not  ill  fit  him  for 
the  presidency  in  the  trying 
days  that  were  before  the  peo 
ple.  Slaveholder  as  he  was, 
he  could  see  no  reason  for 
doing  aught  to  fasten  slavery  on  regions  where  the  in 
habitants  did  not  want  it,  and  he  could  be  relied  upon  to  act 
with  what  seemed  to  him  complete  fairness. 

During  Polk's  administration  the  balance  between  Southern 

and  Northern  States  had  been  preserved.     Florida  was  admitted 

in  1845,  and  Iowa  in  1846.     The  admission  of 

Texas  was  offset  by  the  entrance  of  Wisconsin  into 

the  Union  in  1848.     In  the  summer  of  that  year  Oregon  was 

established  as  a  territory.    The  act  of  establishment  forbade 


MEXICAN  WAR;  SLAVE  TERRITORY  343 

slavery  or  involuntary  servitude  within  the  territorial  limits. 
Save  as  the  laws  of  Mexico  were  recognized  or 
military  rule  might  be  enforced,  the  Territory  ac 
quired  from  Mexico  as  the  result  of  the  war  was  still 
without  legal  organization.  It  was  necessary  for  Congress  to 
act  at  once. 

California  presented  peculiar  difficulties.  In  1848  gold  was 
discovered  there.  This  discovery  soon  made  a  deep  impression 
on  the  minds  of  the  Eastern  people,  and  in  1849 
a  great  migration  to  the  new  gold  coast  set  in. 
Thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  left  their  homes 
in  the  East  to  hunt  for  riches.  Long  trains  of  wagons  started 
on  the  weary  journey  over  the  Western  prairies.  Every  sort 
of  ocean  craft  was  pressed  into  service  that  the  eager  crowds 
might  be  carried  "around  the  Horn"  or  landed  at  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama,  to  make  their  way  across  as  best  they  might.  Law 
yers,  ministers,  school-teachers,  mechanics,  men  from  all  walks 
of  life,  old  and  young,  hastened  away  to  the  gold  fields  to  make 
their  fortunes  in  a  day.  The  population  of  California  grew  with 
astounding  rapidity.  Something  like  eighty  thousand  persons 
arrived  there  in  a  single  year.  San  Francisco  changed  from  a 
hamlet  to  a  city  in  a  twelvemonth.  The  mad  race  for  the  gold 
diggings  brought  together  a  motley  crowd.  There  was  no  law 
save  the  rough  code  of  the  mining  camp.  The  whole  territory 
was  on  the  very  verge  of  anarchy;  but  there  was  underneath  it 
all  a  strong  sentiment  of  order. 

These  people,  thus  quickly  swept  together  into  a  community 
almost  without  law,  showed  in  the  end  rare  talent  for  organiza 
tion.     In  September,  1849,  delegates  met  in  con- 
Caiifomia          vention,  adopted  a  State  Constitution,  and  pre- 
Constitution.       pared  to  seek  admission  into  the  Union.     A  clause 
prohibiting  slavery  was  adopted  without  difficulty. 
The  people  ratified  the  Constitution,  and  elected  State  officers 
and  members  of  Congress. 

When  Congress  met,  therefore,  in  December,  1849,  serious 
problems  demanded  immediate  solution,  (i)  California,  with 
a  free  Constitution,  claimed  immediate  admission  into  the 


344          HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Union.     Such  admission  was  strongly  opposed  by  the  South, 
for  it  would  destroy  the  balance  between  the  States,  because 
there  was  no  slave  State  ready  for  entrance,  nor 
problems.  was  tnere  likely  to  be  for  some  time  to  come.     (2) 

Some  sort  of  Territorial  government  must  be  estab 
lished  in  the  rest  of  the  land  obtained  from  Mexico,  and  it  must 
be  decided  whether  slavery  should  be  recognized  there  or  not. 
(3)  Moreover,  there  was  a  contest  between  Texas  and  the  peo 
ple  of  the  old  Mexican  province  of  New  Mexico.  Texas,  it  will 
be  remembered,  seceded  from  Mexico,  claiming  all  land  north 
and  east  of  the  Rio  Grande  River.  But  the  province  of  New 
Mexico  had  in  reality  extended  considerably  to  the  east  of  this 
river,  and  the  Texans  had  never  succeeded  in  making  good  their 
claim  to  this  region.  The  people  of  New  Mexico  objected  to 
having  their  province  divided  and  the  eastern  portion  of  it 
embraced  in  the  State  of  Texas.  This  contest  Congress  was 
called  upon  to  settle.  (4)  In  addition  to  all  of  these  difficulties, 
slavery  presented  others.  The  Northerners  were,  year  by  year, 
more  hostile  to  the  whole  institution,  and  the  existence  of  slav 
ery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  was  especially  irritating.  Slaves 
were  bought  and  sold  within  sight  of  the  Capitol,  and  this 
seemed  to  Northern  sentiment  a  disgrace  no  longer  to  be  borne. 
(5)  Many  desired  also  the  suppression  of  the  trade  in  slaves  be 
tween  the  States,  as  clearly  within  the  power  of  the  United 
States  Government.  (6)  The  Southerners,  resenting  any  inter 
ference  with  the  traffic  in  slaves,  made  serious  charges  against 
the  North;  they  charged  all  the  North  with  the  sins  of  abolition 
ism  ;  they  demanded  a  more  stringent  fugitive  slave  law,  in  order 
that  they  might  thus  recover  the  hundreds  of  slaves  that  yearly 
escaped  and  made  their  way  to  the  North. 

Through  the  winter  of  1849-50  the  feeling  was  intense. 
Southern  men  felt  that  they  were  now  struggling  for  a  last 
hope.  Texas,  with  its  wide  prairies,  was  indeed 
theirs,  but  it  now  seemed  possible  that  slavery 
would  be  shut  out  of  the  Mexican  cession,  because 
even  the  people  of  New  Mexico  did  not  wish  it.  The  Virginia 
Legislature  passed  resolutions  declaring  that  the  adoption  and 


MEXICAN  WAR ;  SLAVE  TERRITORY  345 

attempted  enforcement  of  the  Wilmot  proviso  would  leave  to  the 
people  but  two  courses:  one,  of  " abject  submission  to  aggression 
and  outrage";  the  other,  " determined  resistance  at  all  hazards 
and  to  the  last  extremity".  The  Union  seemed  to  be  in  danger, 
for  the  South  was  exasperated  and  utterly  in  earnest.  "  All  now 
is  uproar",  wrote  Clay,  "  confusion,  and  menace  to  the  existence 
of  the  Union  and  to  the  happiness  and  safety  of  the  people". 

To  the  task  of  quieting  the  storm  and  of  saving  the  Union 
Clay  now  applied  himself.    He  hoped  that  each  section  might 

be  brought  to  yield  a  portion  of  its  claims  and  that 

Peace  coulcl  be  secured  by  compromise.  No  one 
1850.  '  was  better  fitted  for  the  task  than  he.  He  was  a 

slave  owner  and  believed  that  it  was  riveted  on  the 
South,  but  he  had  no  great  love  for  slavery.  He  knew  South 
ern  life  and  passions,  but  he  knew  Northern  life  and  prejudices 
quite  as  well.  His  popularity  was  great,  for  his  sympathies 
were  wide  and  deep,  and  for  forty  years  he  had  stood  before 
the  people  as  a  faithful  representative  of  American  ideas.  He 
introduced  into  the  Senate,  in  January,  a  series  of  resolutions 
dealing  with  the  subjects  of  controversy.  He  proposed,  among 
other  things,  (i)  to  admit  California;  (2)  to  establish  Territories 
without  saying  anything  about  slavery;  (3)  to  pass  a  fugitive 
slave  law;  (4)  to  pay  Texas  to  give  up  her  claim  in  New  Mex 
ico?  (5)  to  declare  that  it  was  inexpedient  to  abolish  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  but  (6)  to  abolish  the  slave  trade  there. 
These  resolutions  were  the  subjects  of  discussion  for  months. 
All  through  the  summer  of  1850  North  and  South  anxiously 

watched the  movements  of  Congress.     The  Senate 

Great  debates.  . 

was  the  chief  arena  of  debate.     Great  speeches 
were  made  by  Clay,  Webster,  Calhoun,  Seward,  and  others. 
Webster  greatly  disappointed  thousands  of  his  Northern  ad 
mirers  by  supporting  the  compromise,  and  declar- 
Webster's          jng  that  slavery  need  not  be  excluded  by  law  from 

7th  of  March  6  /  .        .  V 

speech.  the  new  Western  Territories,  because  it  was  ex 

cluded  by  a  law  superior  to  legislative  enactment: 
"I  mean  the  law  of  Nature,  of  physical  geography,  the  law  of 
the  formation  of  the  earth".  He  declared  that  anti-slavery  agi- 


346  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

tation  was  useless  and  dangerous,  and  he  even  censured  the 
North  for  harboring  runaway  slaves.  It  was  believed  by  many 
that  he  spoke  these  words  in  hope  of  securing  the  presidency. 
If  he  did,  he  was  sadly  mistaken,  for,  from  that  time,  although 
Northern  confidence  seemed  temporarily  to  be  given  him  again, 
his  great  power  of  leadership  was  gone. 

Calhoun  was  at  the  point  of  death  and  unable  to  deliver  the 
speech  he  had  prepared.  It  was  therefore  read  for  him.  If  one 
wishes  to  know  the  feeling  of  the  South  that  finally 
led  to  secession  and  civil  war,  one  should  study 
this  speech.  To  Calhoun  the  nation  seemed  clearly 
divided  into  two  distinct  sections;  if  the  Northern  one  insisted 

on  overturning  the  balance  be 
tween  the  two,  the  interests  of  the 
South  would  be  endangered  and 

i_^SB^^^H,  slavery  would  not  be  safe;  the  only 
way  in  which  the  Union  could  be 
preserved  was  by  carefully  main 
taining  this  balance  and  by  the 
complete  recognition  of  sectional 
differences  and  interests.  To  the 
Western  Territories  the  Southern 
er  must  be  allowed  to  go  with  his 
slaves  as  freely  as  the  Northern 
man  with  his  cattle;  slavery  must 
not  be  discriminated  against,  but 
protected  by  the  power  of  the  Na 
tional  Government. 

Seward    made     the    greatest 
speech  of  these  debates,  because 
he  fully  represented  the  best  Northern  sentiment  concerning 
slavery;  because  he  represented  the  sentiment  that 
speech1'8  was  to  Decome  the  dominant  power  in  the  nation. 

He  declared  that  slavery  must  go  no  further.  He 
warned  the  South  that  every  effort  to  extend  slavery  or  to  fasten 
its  hold  upon  the  country  would  only  hasten  the  day  of  emanci 
pation,  because  this  land  must  be  free,  and  the  forces  of  economy, 


MEXICAN  WAR  ;  SLAVE  TERRITORY  347 

the  forces  of  civilization,  were  fighting  the  battles  of  freedom. 
"The  question  of  dissolving  the  Union  is  a  complex  question:  it 
embraces  the  fearful  issue  whether  the  Union  shall  stand,  and 
slavery,  under  the  steady,  peaceful  action  of  moral,  social,  and 
political  causes,  be  removed  by  gradual  voluntary  effort  and 
with  compensation;  or  whether  the  Union  shall  be  dissolved  and 
civil  war  ensue,  bringing  on  violent  but  complete  and  immediate 
emancipation".1  How  much  misery  and  woe  might  have  been 
avoided  had  the  South  listened  to  Seward's  warning  in  1850! 

Not  till  September  were  all  parts  of  the  compromise  passed. 
It  agreed  substantially  with  Clay's  scheme,     (i)  The  boundary 
between  Texas  and  New  Mexico  was  established, 
mp      **  anc^  Texas  was  paid  ten  million  dollars  for  giving 


up  her  claims.  (2)  California  was  admitted  as  a 
free  State.  (3)  New  Mexico  and  Utah  were  given  Territorial 
governments  without  restriction  as  to  slavery.  (4)  A  law  was 
passed  to  provide  for  the  arrest  and  return  of  fugitive  slaves. 
(5)  The  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia  was  abolished. 
On  the  whole,  it  was  received  favorably  by  both  sections  of  the 
country.  The  people  were  relieved  from  the  high  excitement 
under  which  they  had  been  living  for  two  or  three  years.  An 
other  crisis  seemed  passed  in  safety,  and  men  breathed  more 
freely. 

The  part  of  this  compromise  that  was  most  disliked  by  the 
North,  and  that  eventually  caused  greatest  trouble,  was  the 

fugitive  slave  law.  This  was  a  very  severe  meas- 
siave  "aw!™  ure-  &  negro  claimed  as  a  runaway  slave  had  no 

right  to  a  trial  by  jury,  could  give  no  evidence  in 
his  own  behalf,  and  had  little  or  no  chance  of  being  released. 
The  trial  might  be  before  a  commissioner  instead  of  a  court,  and 
it  was  the  commissioner's  duty  to  hear  and  determine  the  case 

1  Seward  at  this  time  also  said  that  "  there  is  a  higher  law  than  the 
Constitution  which  regulates  our  authority",  etc.  For  this  "higher-law 
doctrine"  he  and  his  followers  were  bitterly  attacked,  on  the  ground  that 
they  sought  to  overthrow  the  Constitution  for  mere  sentiment.  But  he 
spoke  plain  truth;  the  Constitution  itself  could  not  resist  the  moral  forces 
of  the  nation. 


348  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

of  a  claimant  in  a  summary  manner.  Whether  the  negro  was  a 
person  or  a  thing  was  decided  with  less  formality  than  in  a  suit 
at  common  law  before  the  Federal  courts  where  over  twenty 
dollars  were  involved.  The  passage  of  this  act  was  in  many 
parts  of  the  North  keenly  resented,  but  time  was  needed  to  dis 
close  all  its  awful  meaning.  In  the  course  of  the  next  few  years 
Northern  sentiment  against  slavery  was  aroused  to  a  new  pitch 
by  efforts  to  enforce  the  law,  for  it  brought  home  before  the  very 
eyes  of  the  people  some  of  the  most  odious  aspects  of  slavery; 
it  helped  to  intensify  hatred  of  the  whole  barbarous  system 
and  to  bring  about  a  nearer  approach  to  unity  of  thought  and 
feeling.  Throughout  the  North  were  many  colored  people, 
who  had  either  escaped  from  service  in  years  gone  by  or  been 
born  in  freedom;  they  could  now  be  seized  on  the  mere  presenta 
tion  of  an  affidavit  made  by  an  alleged  owner,  and  they  might  be 
dragged  away  into  bondage  after  a  hasty  trial.  Riots  and  res 
cues  became  not  infrequent,  and  some  of  them  aroused  the  in 
terest  of  the  whole  country.  This  part  of  the  compromise, 
therefore,  did  not  allay  ill  feeling,  but  in  the  end  made  it  more 
intense  and  bitter. 

While  the  compromise  was  under  discussion  President  Tay 
lor  died  (July  9,  1850).    His  death  brought  deep  sorrow  to  the 

nation.  The  people  of  the  North  paid  the  tribute 
Taylor  °^  rnourning  to  the  honest  soldier,  who  seemed  to 

have  forgotten  sectional  prejudices  in  his  love  of 
country.  "I  never  saw",  wrote  Seward,  "  public  grief  so  uni 
versal  and  so  profound". 

Mr.  Fillmore  immediately  assumed  the  presidency.    It  has 
always  been  the  practice  to  nominate  men  for  the  Vice-presi 

dency  without  first  considering  whether  they  are 

^  ^or  ^e  P  residency;  and  so  it  was  in  the  case 


of  Fillmore.  He  was  by  no  means  a  great  man, 
nor  was  he  widely  experienced  in  public  affairs;  but  the  full 
responsibility  of  office  was  now  thrust  upon  him.  His  cast 
of  mind  led  him  to  be  on  the  whole  conservative  and  careful. 
His  past  showed  that  he  had  anti-slavery  convictions,  but  he 
threw  his  influence  in  favor  of  the  compromise  while  it  was  under 


MEXICAN  WAR;  SLAVE  TERRITORY  349 

discussion,  and  endeavored  to  see  it  fully  carried  out  after  it  was 
passed.  The  Cabinet  was  reorganized.  Webster  became  Sec 
retary  of  State,  and  to  a  great  extent  directed  the  policy  of  the 
administration. 

",  • '••       REFERENCES 

WILSON,  Division  and  Reunion,  pp.  150-172;  BURGESS,  Middle 
Period,  Chapters  XVI,  XVII;  A.  C.  MCLAUGHLIN,  Lewis  Cass, 
Chapters  VIII,  IX;  VON  HOLST,  Calhoun,  pp.  274-351;  LODGE, 
Daniel  Webster,  Chapter  IX;  SCHURZ,  Henry  Clay,  Chapters  XXV, 
XXVI;  LOTHROP,  William  H.  Seward,  Chapters  IV,  V;  RHODES, 
History  of  the  United  States,  Volume  I,  Chapter  II.  Longer  ac 
counts:  MCMASTER,  Volume  VII,  pp.  439-614;  SCHOULER,  Volume 
IV,  pp.  525-549;  Volume  V,  pp.  1-187;  GARRISON,  Westward  Exten 
sion,  Chapters  XV-XX. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


THE   PRINCIPLE    OF   POPULAR   SOVEREIGNTY;    THE 
FORMATION   OF   THE   REPUBLICAN   PARTY 

In  the  midst  of  all  the  excitement  on  the  slavery  question 

the  country  had  been  growing  in  wealth,  in  strength,  and  in 

population.     In   1840   the  census  showed  about 

Growth  in  M1.  ,          T          n  , 

population.  seventeen  million  people.  In  1850  there  were 
twenty-three  million.  This  increase  was  due  in 
large  part  to  the  great  influx  of 
European  immigrants,  who  in 
this  decade  came  to  America  in 
large  numbers.  The  Irish  and 
Germans  were  especially  num 
erous.  Of  the  former  nearly 
one  hundred  and  sixty  thou 
sand  came  in  a  single  year. 
After  the  great  popular  upris 
ings  in  Europe  in  1848 — upris 
ings  in  behalf  of  greater  political 
freedom — thousands  moved  to 
America  either  to  escape  pun 
ishment,  or,  despairing  of 
brighter  days  at  home,  to  seek 
prosperity  in  a  land  whose  in 
stitutions  seemed  reasonable 
and  just.  All  of  these  new 
comers  found  homes  either  in 
the  Northern  cities  or  on  the 
farms  of  the  new  Northwest.  To  the  South  they  would  not 
go,  because  they  came  to  work,  while  beyond  Mason  and 
Dixon's  line  work  was  left  to  slaves  and  labor  was  considered 
degrading.  They  came,  too,  without  local  or  sectional  preju 
dices,  and  thus  added  to  the  nationalizing  forces  and  stimulated 
the  national  spirit. 

350 


F>                      «f-                      »O                      *O 
CO                    OO                     OO                    OO 

T             *~              T               i 

r<                   ro                   'J-                   "> 
OO                      OO                      OO                      OO 

I 

<J,UUU,UUU 

/ 

2,000,000 

/ 
' 

1 

/ 

1,500,000 

/ 

500,000 

/ 

CHART  SHOWING  INCREASE  OF 
IMMIGRATION  BY  DECADES 


POPULAR  SOVEREIGNTY;  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY  351 

In  this  decade  of  political  excitement  the  inventive  spirit  of 
America  had  not  slumbered.  Among  the  most  important  in- 
_  .  ventions  was  the  rotary  printing  press,  by  which 

Inventions.  f        •      •         -C  •       i 

the  process  of  printing  became  amazingly  rapid. 
The  result  was  the  cheapening  of  books  and  newspapers  and  con 
sequent  widening  of  educational  opportunities.  The  sewing 
machine,  too,  was  invented,  and  the  result  of  this  invention  was 
not  simply  to  lessen  the  drudgery  of  the  household,  but  to  re 
duce  the  work  on  all  articles  of  clothing,  and  thus  to  make  them 
cheaper  and  more  attainable  by  the  poor.  About  this  same 
time  a  patent  was  secured  for  the  manufacture  of  rubber  goods. 
The  value  of  the  discovery  was  so  great  that  this  industry  as 
sumed  large  proportions  at  once.  In  1850  over  three  million 
dollars'  worth  of  rubber  goods  were  made  in  the  United  States. 
In  trade  and  commerce  the  United  States  was  now  one  of  the 
first  nations  of  the  world.  "I  can  never  think  of  America", 
wrote  Leigh  Hunt  at  one  time,  "without  seeing  a  gigantic 
counter  stretched  all  along  the  seaboard  ". 

The  shipping  interests  had  recently  developed  greatly. 
Steam  vessels  were  taking  the  place  of  the  old  sailing  vessels  on 

the  ocean,  as  they  had  already  supplanted  the  flat- 
interestl  boats  on  the  rivers.  Steamships  now  made  the 

passage  across  the  Atlantic  in  about  ten  days. 
The  wealth  of  the  nation  was  increasing  rapidly  in  spite  of  the 
forebodings  of  those  who  feared  slavery  and  its  blighting  influence. 
Men  looked  hopefully  forward  to  an  immense  material  develop 
ment.  In  this  they  were  not  mistaken.  The  decade  from  1850 
to  1860  was  one  of  progress.  Before  its  end  America  had  act 
ually  outstripped  England  in  the  tonnage  of  its  merchant  marine. 
The  compromise  of  1850  was  quite  generally  acquiesced  in. 
Some  men  continued  to  denounce  it,  but  the  first  two  or  three 

years  after  its  passage  were  years  of  comparative 
inCthteSCenCe  (luiet'  anc*  the  members  of  both  the  old  parties 
compromise.  v^e(^  witn  eacn  other  in  declaring  their  attachment 

to  it.  Occasionally  the  fugitive  slave  law  was  openly 
violated,  or  men  gave  utterance  to  their  feelings  in  ringing  de 
nunciations;  but  on  the  whole  it  seemed  to  the  majority  that  it 


352  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

was  now  only  necessary  to  decry  "agitation"  and  to  assert  un 
wavering  obedience  and  respect  for  the  great  compromises. 

In  the  spring  of  1852  Mrs.  Stowe's  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  was 
published,  a  simple,  moving  story  of  slavery.  The  book  holds 
a  high  place  in  our  literature,  not  because  its  lan- 
Uncie  Tom's  guage  is  especially  artistic,  but  because  it  pictures 
a  situation  with  power  and  is  the  frank  utterance 
of  impassioned  belief.  But  it  is  more  than  a  piece  of  literature 
in  the  ordinary  sense;  it  is  a  great  political  pamphlet.  The  sales 
of  the  book  were  enormous.1  In  Europe  and  America  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  copies  were  sold.  Its  effect  in  awakening  anti- 
slavery  feeling  was  great.  Rufus  Choate  is  reported  to  have 
said,  "That  book  will  make  two  millions  of  Abolitionists";  and 
Garrison  wrote  to  Mrs.  Stowe,  "All  the  defenders  of  slavery 
have  left  me  alone  and  are  abusing  you". 

The  Democratic  party  nominated  Franklin  Pierce,  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  William  R.  King,  of  Alabama,  as  their  candi 
dates.  The  Whigs  nominated  General  Winfield 
Scott>  of  Virginia,  and  William  A.  Graham,  of 
North  Carolina.  Both  parties  favored  the  com 
promise,  and  declared  that  it  was  a  final  settlement  of  the  slavery 
question.  The  free-soilers  nominated  John  P.  Hale,  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  George  W.  Julian,  of  Indiana.  They  wittily 
characterized  the  old  parties  as  the  "Whig  and  Democratic 
Wings  of  the  Great  Compromise  Party  of  the  Nation".  Their 
principles  were  set  forth  in  the  phrase,  "Free  soil,  free  speech, 
free  labor,  and  free  men".  The  election  resulted  in  a  victory 
for  the  Democrats  so  complete  that  the  Whigs  were  over 
whelmed.  Scott  carried  only  four  States  and  received  only 
forty-two  electoral  votes.  Though  his  party  had  humbled 
itself  and  bowed  down  before  the  compromise,  and  refused 

1  The  picture  of  slavery  given  in  the  book  is  only  partly  true;  it  doubt 
less  presented  only  the  most  obnoxious  features  of  the  system;  but  whether 
it  was  true  in  all  respects  or  not  is  not  the  historical  fact  of  chief  signifi 
cance;  the  fact  is  that  the  book  was  of  great  influence  in  getting  people 
to  think  and  to  oppose  slavery.  Many  a  novel  since  then  has  aided  'peo 
ple  to  see  a  situation. 


POPULAR  SOVEREIGNTY;  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY  353 

to  yield  to  its  own  better  impulses,  it  could  not  win  the 
Southern  vote.1 

This  was  the  end  of  the  Whig  party.     Four  years  later  a  few 
men  still  clung  to  the  name  and  tried  to  believe  their  party  was 

not  gone,  but  to  no  avail.  It  was  said  to  have 
conditions"*  "died  of  an  attempt  to  swallow  the  fugitive  law". 

Before  the  next  election,  as  we  shall  see,  the  slavery 
question  assumed  new  forms  and  took  on  enormous  proportions. 
The  Whig  party  had  to  be  dissolved  that  a  new  party  might 
take  its  place,  ready  to  act  upon  principle  in  opposition  to  slav 
ery  extension.  Moreover  the  old  stalwart  leaders  that  had  con 
trolled  Whig  counsels  for  a  generation  were  now  passed  away. 
Webster  and  Clay  died  in  1852,  and  the  Northern  men  who 
could  have  taken  their  places  were  opponents  of  slavery.  In 
deed,  we  now  find  new  men,  and  a  fair  field  for  new  forces. 
Salmon  P.  Chase,  Seward,  and  Charles  Sumner  became  the 
giants  of  the  arena,  and  they  were  unrelenting  foes  of  slavery. 
The  South,  too,  had  men  thoroughly  devoted  to  its  peculiar  in 
terests,  its  most  able  and  fearless  champion,  after  the  death  of 
Calhoun,  being  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi.  Though  men 
might  blind  their  eyes  to  it,  the  contest  was  narrowing  down  to 
a  contest  between  the  North  and  the  South.  The  bright,  able 
young  men  of  the  North,  the  men  of  the  next  twenty  years  of 
action,  were  prepared  to  cast  away  old  party  ties  and  vote  for 
principle,  while  the  South  would  support  none  but  men  fully 
devoted  to  its  interests.2 


1  The  new  President  was  not  a  great  statesman.    He  had  been  a  con 
sistent  Democrat,  but  no  one  could  foresee  what  his  career  as  President 
would  be.    Indeed,  he  had  been  nominated  by  the  Democrats  partly  be 
cause  they  desired  a  colorless  candidate.    He  was  a  man  of  some  ability,  a 
good  lawyer,  and  a  fine  speaker.    He  had  both  civil  and  military  experience, 
having  been  in  the  House  and  the  Senate,  and  having  served  as  a  brigadier- 
general  in  the  Mexican  War.     The  Vice-President,  King,  never  assumed 
the  duties  of  office.    He  died  about  a  month  after  the  inauguration.    Pierce 
made  William  L.  Marcy  Secretary  of  State  and  Jefferson  Davis  Secretary 
of  War. 

2  We  saw,  when  considering  the  party  condition  in  1811-12,  that  new 
young  men  were  coming  in.    For  forty  years  Clay,  Calhoun,  and  Webster 
were  the  towering  figures.    They  all  defended  the  Union;  even  Calhoun, 

24 


354  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Southern  ambition  was  fired  in  these  days  with  the  hope  of 
winning  new  territory  in  the  regions  of  the  South.  Cuba  and 
Central  America,  both  suitable  for  slavery,  were 
Expansion  of  alluringly  near,  and  both  might  be  acquired  by  a 
territory.  little  effort.  How  widely  hopes  of  conquests  in 

that  direction  were  entertained  at  the  South  one 
cannot  say.  Certain  it  is  that  many  hoped  to  gain  strength  for 
slavery  by  the  acquisition  of  new  territory.  But  zeal  for  the 
annexation  of  Cuba  was  not  confined  to  Southern  politicians. 
There  was  prevalent  at  the  time  a  bold  belief  in  the  doctrine  of 
"manifest  destiny",  a  belief  that  we  as  a  nation  were  called 
upon  to  extend  the  sphere  of  our  wholesome  influence,  to  gather 
in  new  lands  that  we  might  do  our  great  duty  in  elevating  man. 
This  sentiment  is  well  expressed  in  the  words  of  Edward 
Everett,  who  during  the  last  few  months  of  Fillmore's  admin 
istration  was  Secretary  of  State:  " Every  addition  to  the 
territory  of  the  American  Union  has  given  homes  to  European 
destitution  and  gardens  to  European  want". 

Marcy  himself  seems  to  have  been  anxious  for  the  annexa 
tion  of  Cuba.  In  1854,  at  his  suggestion,  the  American  ministers 
to  England,  France,  and  Spain — James  Buchanan, 
manifesto!1  John  Y.  Mason,  Pierre  Soule — met  and  consulted 
upon  the  prospects  of  acquiring  this  island.  They 
drew  up  a  paper  which  has  since  borne  the  name  of  the  "Ostend 
manifesto",  from  the  place  where  the  first  consultations  were 
held.  This  is  a  remarkable  document.  It  declared  that  the 
"Union  can  never  enjoy  repose  nor  possess  reliable  security  as 
long  as  Cuba  is  not  embraced  within  its  boundaries".  It  sug 
gested,  in  hardly  mistakable  language,  that  the  United  States 
would  be  justified  in  seizing  the  coveted  spot  if  Spain  refused  to 


while  asserting  Southern  rights,  declared  the  Union  could  be  preserved 
only  by  guarding  those  rights;  he  sought  to  build  and  secure  State  and 
sectional  rights,  but  he  asserted  and  probably  believed  that  only  thus  could 
the  Union  be  saved.  The  Northern  men,  who  were  for  forging  to  the 
front  from  now  on,  were  Union  men  also;  but,  more  and  more,  opposition  to 
slavery  and  what  they  considered  Southern  domination  influenced  their 
thoughts  and  actions — Lincoln,  Seward,  Sumner,  Chase. 


POPULAR  SOVEREIGNTY;  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY  355 

sell  it.  "We  should  be  recreant  to  our  duty,  be  unworthy  of  our 
gallant  forefathers,  and  commit  base  treason  against  our  pos 
terity,  should  we  permit  Cuba  to  be  Africanized  and  become  a 
second  San  Domingo,  with  all  its  attendant  horrors  to  the  white 
race,  and  suffer  the  flames  to  extend  to  our  own  neighboring 
shores,  seriously  to  endanger  or  actually  to  consume  the  fair 
fabric  of  our  Union".  The  Government  did  not  directly  sanc 
tion  this  extraordinary  paper.  Marcy  directly  disapproved  of 
it;  but  when  it  was  published  it  startled  the  world.  Men  at  the 
North  wondered  if  our  nation  was  in  such  a  plight  that  three  of 
our  foreign  diplomats  dared  openly  proclaim  that  we  must  seize 
an  island,  lest  its  inhabitants  become  free. 

The  Democrats,  highly  successful  in  the  campaign  of  1852, 
took  office  the  next  year  with  elation  and  confidence.  They  had 
proclaimed  loudly  the  sanctity  of  the  compromise, 
an(^  men  noPed  and  believed  that  the  dreadful 
slavery  issue  was  a  thing  of  the  past.  But  hardly 
had  the  new  Congress  assumed  its  duties  when  the  storm  burst 
again  with  renewed  fury.  It  was  proposed  to  form  a  new  Terri 
tory  in  the  land  west  of  Iowa  and  Missouri,  part  of  the  Louisiana 
purchase.  From  all  of  this  country  north  of  36°  30'  slavery  was 
excluded  by  the  express  terms  of  the  Missouri  compromise.  The 
minds  of  the  Northern  people  had  long  rested  in  calm  assurance 
that  this  portion  of  the  national  domain  was  destined  for  free 
dom.  It  was  protected  by  a  law  of  over  thirty  years'  standing, 
and  both  of  the  great  parties  had  avowed  their  faith  and  alle 
giance  to  it. 

In  January,  1854,  the  Senate  began  the  consideration  of  a 
measure  for  organizing  a  Territory  in  this  region.  Senator 
Dixon,  of  Kentucky,  who  was  filling  the  unexpired 
term  °^  Henry  Clay,  offered  an  amendment  re 
pealing  so  much  of  the  Missouri  compromise  as 
restricted  the  extension  of  slavery.  A  few  days  later  Senator 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  from  Illinois,  brought  in  a  new  bill  pro 
viding  for  two  Territories,  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  and  for  the 
repeal  of  the  slavery  restriction  of  the  famous  compromise  on 
the  ground  that  it  was  "superseded  by  the  principles  of  the 


356  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

legislation  of  1850".  The  policy  of  " non-intervention",  which 
was  said  to  be  the  basis  of  the  act  of  1850,  was  now  to  be  adopted 
as  a  principle  in  the  organization  of  the  new  Territories.  It  was 
declared  that  the  intention  of  the  act  was  "not  to  legislate  slav 
ery  into  any  Territory  or  State,  nor  exclude  it  therefrom;  but  to 
leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate 
their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States". 

The  bill  was  debated  long  and  bitterly.  Chase,  Seward,  and 
Summer  made  great  speeches,  attacking  slavery  and  charging 
The  debate  ^  South  with  breach  of  faith.  Douglas  defended 
the  measure  with  his  usual  skill  and  vigor.  His 
language  was  not  elegant  and  his  manner  was  coarse,  but 
he  spoke  with  such  vehemence,  with  such  consummate  shrewd 
ness  and  adroitness,  that  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  debaters 
that  ever  spoke  in  Congress.  He  declared  that  the  com 
promise  of  1850  contained  a  principle;  that  the  principle 
was  wise  and  constitutionally  sound;  that  in  order  to  quiet  the 
slavery  agitation  forever  this  principle  should  be  applied  to  all 
of  the  Territories.1 

It  is  by  no  means  clear  that  the  "non-intervention"  policy 
of  1850  was  the  same  as  the  doctrine  of  "popular  sovereignty", 
nor  was  it  made  absolutely  evident  that  under  this 
Kansas-Nebraska  act,  purporting  to  be  based  on 
the  principle  of  1850,  the  people  of  the  Territories 
themselves  could,  after  organization,  either  admit  or  exclude 
slavery  as  they  chose.  But  Cass  and  Douglas,  and  other 
Northern  Democrats  who  voted  for  the  bill,  seem  to  have  be 
lieved  that  it  recognized  "popular  sovereignty";  and,  if  it  did, 
then  the  people  of  the  new  Territories  could  settle  the  matter 


compromise  of  1850  had  provided  for  the  organization  of  Terri 
tories  in  the  land  acquired  from  Mexico;  the  compromise  avoided  any 
distinct  statement  concerning  the  legality  of  slavery  in  the  Territories;  it 
did  not  cover  the  Louisiana  purchase,  where  the  slavery  question  was 
"settled"  by  the  Missouri  compromise.  Douglas  now  claimed  that  the 
compromise  of  1850  did  establish  a  principle  and  he  proposed  to  carry  it 
over  into  the  land  covered  by  the  Missouri  compromise. 


POPULAR  SOVEREIGNTY;  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY  357 


for  themselves.  The  Southern  people  later  denied  that  either 
the  compromise  of  1850  or  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  meant  any 
thing  but  this — that  they  should  be  allowed  to  go  into  the 
Territories  with  their  slaves  without  "intervention"  from  any 
body,  either  from  the  Territory  or  the  National  Government. 

The  bill  was  passed  by  Congress  in  May,  1854.     The  people 
of  the  North  were  roused  to  intense  excitement  during  the  whole 
period  of  this  discussion.     As  long  as  slavery  was 
more  or  less  limited  by  the  compromise  restriction 
and  there  existed  a  sort  of  balance  between  the 


Effect  of  the 
bill. 


THE  WESTERN  TERRITORIES 
in  ISM 

AFTER  THE  PASSAGE  OF 
THE  KANSAS -NEBRASKA  BILL 


sections,  which  men  persuaded  themselves  was  the  natural  and 
constitutional  condition,  there  was  something  like  quiet  and  com 
posure;  but  now,  as  they  saw  these  old  restrictions  cast  aside 
and  the  prairies  of  the  great  West  opened  to  slave  labor  on  an 


358  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

equal  footing  with  free,  there  was  deep  indignation  in  the 
hearts  of  many  who  had  hitherto  belonged  to  the  con 
servative  classes  and  had  deprecated  agitation  and  excite 
ment.  Congressmen  who  voted  for  the  measure  had  difficulty 
in  justifying  themselves  before  their  constituents.  Douglas 
was  for  the  time  being  bitterly  denounced.  "I  could  then 
travel",  he  said  at  a  later  day,  "from  Boston  to  Chicago 
by  the  light  of  my  own  effigies".  Some  ardent  foes  of  slavery 
were  indeed  elated;  they  felt  that  now  the  real  contest 
was  begun;  they  felt,  too,  that  the  bad  faith  of  the  slave 
holders  was  so  clearly  shown  that  no  further  compromise 
of  principle  was  possible.  "This  seems  to  me",  exclaimed 
Seward,  "  auspicious  of  better  days  and  better  and  wiser  legisla 
tion.  Through  all  the  darkness  and  gloom  of  the  present  hour 
bright  stars  are  breaking,  that  inspire  me  with  hope  and  excite 
me  to  perseverance". 

The  time  was  ripe  for  the  formation  of  a  party  outspoken 
in  its  opposition  to  the  extension  of  slavery  into  the  Territories. 

Early  in  the  winter,  when  Douglas  introduced  his 
party  e  n  kill? an  address,  signed  by  Chase,  Sumner,  and  other 

anti-slavery  leaders,  was  published  in  the  news 
papers,  denouncing  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  as  "a  gross  vio 
lation  of  a  sacred  pledge,  as  a  criminal  betrayal  of  precious  rights, 
as  part  and  parcel  of  an  atrocious  plot  to  exclude  from  a  vast 
region  immigrants  from  the  Old  World  and  free  laborers  from 
our  own  States,  and  convert  it  into  a  dreary  region  of  despotism 
inhabited  by  masters  and  slaves".  These  words  expressed  the 
sentiment  of  many  Northern  people.  The  Free-soilers  were 
still  in  existence,  but  the  party  had  never  been  a  popular  one. 
All  the  anti-slavery  elements  were  now  fused  into  a  new  party. 
The  movement  was  felt  everywhere  in  the  North,  but  the  first 
active  steps  toward  organization  were  taken  in  the  Northwest, 
where  the  people  were  not  bound  by  commercial  ties  to  the 
South,  and  where,  less  conservative  by  nature  than  the  men  of 
the  East,  they  were  readier  to  cast  aside  old  party  bonds  and  take 
on  new  ones.  In  Michigan  a  State  convention  was  called  of 
those,  "without  reference  to  former  political  associations,  who 


POPULAR  SOVEREIGNTY;  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY  359 

think  the  time  has  arrived  for  union  at  the  North  to  protect 
liberty  from  being  overthrown  and  downtrodden".     This  con 
vention  nominated  a  full  State  ticket,  and  chris 
tened  the  new  party  "Republican".     Like  action 
was  taken  in  several  other  States,  but  the  new  name  was  not 
adopted  in  all  of  them.     The  principles  of  the  party  were  un 
mistakable;  its  chief  aim  was  "resistance  to  the  encroachment 
of  slavery". 

The  elements  that  were  brought  into  the  new  party  were 
various.  It  absorbed  all  the  Free-soilers,  many  of  whom  had 
been  Democrats;  it  took  in  also  a  great  number  of 
the  Whigs— those  who,  realizing  that  their  party 
had  nothing  left  to  it  but  a  name  and  a  remem 
brance,  were  ready  to  cooperate  boldly  against  slavery.  The 
so-called  anti-Nebraska  Democrats  also  joined  the  Republicans. 
Thus  the  party  was  a  composite  one,  but  it  was  guided  by  a  very 
definite  purpose.  Its  tendencies  were  toward  a  broad  and  liberal 
construction  of  the  Constitution,  and  opposition  to  the  doctrine 
of  State  sovereignty.  The  success  of  the  movement  was  sur 
prising.  In  the  fall  election  of  1854  the  opponents  of  "Ne 
braska"  carried  every  State  of  the  old  Northwest,  and  their 
success  in  the  East  was  not  slight. 

About  this  time  still  another  party  arose,  and  for  a  time  as 
sumed  large  proportions.  This  was  the  "Native- American" 
or  "Know-Nothing"  party.  It  was  a  secret  or- 
ganization,  devoted  -primarily  to  the  exclusion  of 
foreign-born  citizens,  and  especially  Roman  Cath 
olics,  from  the  suffrage,  or  at  least  from  public  office.  It  took 
its  popular  name  from  the  fact  that,  if  any  of  its  members  were 
questioned  concerning  its  object  and  methods,  their  answer  was 
"I  don 't  know  ". l  The  great  influx  of  immigrants  had  startled 

xlt  is  said  that  its  members  had  some  silly  practices  such  as  this:  If 
you  wanted  to  get  into  a  lodge  you  must  rap  at  the  door  several  times,  and 
when  the  sentinel  peeps  through  the  wicket  you  must  say  "What  meets 
here,  to-night"?  He  will  then  answer  "I  don't  know"  and  you  must  say 
"I  am  one".  At  the  second  door  you  must  rap  four  times  and  give  the 
password  "Thirteen".  When  out  in  the  world  when  a  brother  gives  you 


360  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

many  people.  They  believed  that  the  presence  of  so  many 
foreigners  was  a  menace  to  our  institutions.  Some  men  were 
persuaded  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  secretly  plot 
ting  for  political  influence.  The  watchword  of  the  new  party 
was  "America  for  Americans".  Probably  its  members  were 
honestly  deluded  by  the  belief  that  it  had  a  duty  to  perform;  but 
it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  many  joined  the  organization 
because  they  longed  for  another  issue  than  the  dreadful  slavery 
question.  For  a  year  or  two  the  new  party  was  so  strong  that 
it  ran  a  not  uneven  race  with  the  Republicans.  But  after  1856 
its  power  dwindled  rapidly.  It  could  have  no  lasting  vigor.  Its 
secret  methods  were  out  or  place  in  a  free  country,  where,  as  it 
was  well  said,  "every  man  ought  to  have  his  principles  written 
on  his  forehead". 

The  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  had  other  conse 
quences  than  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party.1     Popular 
sovereignty,  reduced  to  its  lowest  terms,  meant 
fo^weTnt  in     but  this:  *  contest  of  strength  between  North  and 
practice.  South,  between  slavery  and  freedom.     That  sec 

tion  must  win  that  had  the  greater  vigor.  If  the 
North  could  pour  more  men  into  the  Territories  than  the  South 
could,  their  destiny  was  secure.  Both  sections  now  prepared  for 
the  struggle.  Emigrants  from  the  Southern  States  made  their  way 
into  Kansas,  and  the  people  of  the  neighboring  State  of  Missouri 
were  ready  to  move  across  the  border,  if  only  temporarily,  in 
order  to  carry  an  election.  From  the  North,,  too,  came  men  by 

the  grip  you  must  ask  "Where  did  you  get  that"?  He  will  answer,  "I  don't 
know",  you  must  reply  "I  don't  know  either".  All  this  sounds  like  the 
fanciful  contrivances  of  children!  No  wonder  that  Greeley  declared  that 
the  party  had  no  more  elements  of  permanence  than  an  anti-potato  rot 
party  would  have. 

1  One  should  notice  through  these  years  some  of  the  more  striking 
efforts  to  rescue  slaves  taken  at  the  North  under  the  fugitive  slave  law. 
Read  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly,  March,  1897,  the  thrilling  account  given  by 
Mr.  Higginson  of  the  attempt  to  rescue  Burns.  The  situation  was  dramatic. 
A  descendant  of  the  first  minister  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  a  negro,  side 
by  side,  battered  with  a  beam  the  door  behind  which  the  fugitive  slave  was 
imprisoned.  When  such  a  scene  could  be  enacted,  open  conflict  could  not 
be  long  postponed. 


POPULAR  SOVEREIGNTY;  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY  361 

the  thousand,  many  of  them  to  seek  new  homes,  many  of  them 
in  search  of  excitement  or  bent  on  holding  Kansas  against  the 
in-rushing  tide  of  slavery.  In  this  great  contest  the  free  States 
had  the  advantage.  Their  population  was  now  considerably 
larger  than  that  of  the  slave  States,  and  was  yearly  increased  by 
immigrants  from  Europe.  Moreover,  the  Southern  slave  owner 
could  not  at  a  moment's  warning  abandon  his  plantation  and 
transport  his  band  of  retainers  to  the  West;  and.  even  if  he 
wished  to  do  so,  he  hesitated  to  move  to  a  Territory  where  there 
was  a  chance  of  losing  his  property  in  his  slaves.  But,  above  all, 
the  North  was  now  in  every  way  the  more  powerful  section.  In 
this  struggle  for  Kansas  the  greater  conflict  between  the  two 
sections  that  was  to  arise  within  a  few  years  was  fairly  shown 
forth.  The  South  was  defeated  because  it  was  weak;  because 
its  ruling  institution  did  not  endow  it  with  actual  vigor;  because 
it  could  not  maintain  itself  against  the  superior  wealth  and  power 
of  the  free  States. 

At  first  the  pro-slavery  element  was  successful  in  Kansas.  In 
the  autumn  of  1854  they  elected  a  delegate  to  Congress,  and  the 
next  spring  elected  a  Legislature  favorable  to  slav- 
efy-  The  free-State  men  charged  that  the  elec 
tion  was  carried  by  fraud  and  intimidation;  that 
residents  of  Missouri  had  swarmed  over  the  border  only  to  vote, 
returning  at  once  to  their  own  State.  The  Legislature  thus 
elected  took  steps  to  make  Kansas  a  slave  Territory,  and  passed 
a  severe  code  of  laws  for  the  protection  of  slavery.  This  gov 
ernment  was  not  recognized  as  legitimate  by  its  opponents,  and 
the  Northern  men  proceeded  to  ignore  it.  They  met  in  conven 
tion  at  Topeka  and  formed  a  State  Constitution,  under  which 
they  sought  admittance  to  the  Union.  They  even  elected  offi 
cers  under  this  instrument.  There  were  thus  two  authorities  in 
the  Territory,  one  a  proslavery  government,  the  other  an  anti- 
slavery  government  pretending  to  have  power  under  a  State 
Constitution.  The  National  Government  refused  to  recognize 
this  Constitution  or  the  officers  acting  under  it,  and  the  Presir 
dent  ordered  the  Federal  troops  to  dismiss  the  Free-State  Legisr 
lature  when  it  assembled. 


362  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

For  about  two  years  the  history  of  Kansas  was  a  history  of 
violence  and  disorder.     Civil  war  broke  out.     Men  were  shot; 
towns  were  sacked.     The  whole  Territory  was  in 
a  state  of  anarchy.     Robbery  and  deeds  of  bru 


tality  were  constant.  "Which  faction  surpassed 
the  other  in  violence  it  would  be  hard  to  say  ".*  Men  from  the 
North  and  men  from  the  South  seemed  to  lose  all  sense  of  their 
common  humanity.  It  was  estimated  that  from  November  i, 
1855,  to  December  i,  1856,  about  two  hundred  persons  were 
killed,  and  property  worth  not  less  than  two  million  dollars 
destroyed  in  the  Territory.  "Bleeding  Kansas"  became  a 
watchword  at  the  North;  and  indeed  this  awful  condi 
tion  was  a  sad  commentary  on  the  policy  of  "popular 
sovereignty  ". 

The  Kansas  question  was  of  course  hotly  discussed  in  Con 
gress.  In  these  trying  times  men  forgot  the  decorum  of  debate 
and  talked  with  savage  earnestness.  In  May, 
l856>  Charles  Sumner  made  his  great  speech  on 
the  Crime  against  Kansas.  He  was  a  powerful 
and  polished  orator;  and  now  his  soul  was  lifted  up  within  him, 
for  he  hated  slavery  with  a  deadly  hatred.  His  speech  was  a 
furious  attack  upon  the  slaveholders,  and  was,  beyond  question, 
needlessly  sharp  and  severe.2  He  spoke  with  special  sever 
ity  of  Senator  Butler,  of  South  Carolina.  Preston  S.  Brooks, 
a  representative  from  that  State  and  a  kinsman  of  the  Sen 
ator,  determined  to  take  revenge.  A  day  or  two  later,  after 
the  Senate  had  adjourned,  Brooks  entered  the  Senate  Chamber 
and  found  Sumner  busy  at  his  desk,  his  head  bent  low  over  his 
work.  He  made  the  most  of  his  opportunity,  striking  Sumner 
over  the  head  with  a  walking  stick  and  so  seriously  injuring  him 
that  he  did  not  fully  recover  for  a  number  of  years.  The  House 

1This  quotation  is  from  Spring's  Kansas,  a  very  interesting  book. 
Chapters  VI-X  give  a  vivid  picture  of  the  horrors  of  the  time. 

2  It  is  not  meant  that  the  attack  on  slavery  was  too  severe,  but  the 
attack  on  the  slaveholders  was.  The  great  Lincoln  always  spoke  of  the 
Southern  man  with  compassion,  while  he  spoke  of  slavery  with  loathinjr 
and  sorrow. 


POPULAR  SOVEREIGNTY;  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY  363 

did  not  expel  Brooks  because  the  needed  two-thirds  vote  could 
not  be  secured.  Brooks,  however,  resigned  his  seat,  and  was 
reflected  at  once  almost  unani 
mously.  The  North  was  mightily 
stirred  by  this  attack.  Even 
those  who  did  not  sympathize 
with  Sumner  were  indignant  at 
the  brutality  of  the  assault. 
Perhaps  nothing  that  occurred 
before  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
did  more  to  estrange  the  two 
sections  and  to  fill  the  hearts  of 
men  with  bitterness.  The  North 
felt  that  the  South  was  given 
over  to  ruffianism.  The  South, 
on  the  other  hand,  believed 
that  all  Northern  men  were  Abo 
litionists  plotting  violently  to 
overthrow  slavery;  many  seemed  to  believe  that  Sumner  had 
received  his  just  deserts. 

The  campaign  of  1856  was  begun  soon  after  these  exciting 
events.  There  were  three  parties  in  the  field.  The  Democrats 
nominated  James  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
of  18*56! "  Jonn  C.  Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky.  Their  plat 
form  approved  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  and 
the  principle  of  popular  sovereignty.  It  disapproved  of  "all 
sectional  parties  .  .  .  whose  avowed  purpose,  if  consummated, 
must  end  in  civil  war  and  disunion".  The  Republicans  were 
organized  as  a  national  party  in  the  winter  of  1856,  and  in  the 
early  summer  candidates  were  chosen.  John  C.  Fremont,  of 
California,  was  nominated  for  President,  and  William  L.  Day 
ton,  of  New  Jersey,  for  Vice-President.  Resolutions  were 
passed  declaring  that  Congress  had  sovereign  power  over  the 
Territories  and  should  use  it  to  prohibit  slavery  there,  and  that 
Kansas  should  be  admitted  at  once  under  the  Free-State  Con 
stitution.  The  Know-Nothings  put  forward  as  candidates 
Millard  Fillmore  and  Andrew  J.  Donelson,  of  Tennessee.  The 


364 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


campaign  was  carried  on  through  the  summer  with  great  ear 
nestness  and  with  extraordinary  show  of  feeling.  Buchanan  was 
elected,  but  not  by  a  large  electoral  majority.  The  popular  vote 
of  the  Democrats  was  less  than  that  of  the  Republican  and 


American  parties  combined.  The  Republicans  polled  1,341,264 
votes,  about  five  times  as  many  as  the  Free-soilers  had  ever  cast. 
It  was  evident  that  opposition  to  slavery  had  assumed  a  new 
and  formidable  shape. 

REFERENCES 

HART,  Contemporaries,  Volume  IV,  pp.  100-121;  WILSON, 
Division  and  Reunion,  pp.  178-193;  BURGESS,  Middle  Period, 
Chapters  XVIII-XX;  MCLAUGHLIN,  Lewis  Cass,  Chapter  X; 
LOTHROP,  Seward,  Chapters  VI-IX;  HART,  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
Chapters  V,  VI;  STOREY,  Charles  Sumner,  Chapters  VI-VIIL 
Longer  accounts:  SCHOULER,  Volume  V,  pp.  213-367;  SMITH,  Parties 
and  Slavery,  Chapters  I-XII;  RHODES,  Volume  I,  Chapters  III,  V: 
Volume  II,  Chapters  VI-VIIL 


CHAPTER  XX 
THE  COMING  OF  THE  CRISIS 

The  struggle  in  Kansas,  the  growing  feeling  of  resentment 
at  the  North,  the  bitterness  with  which  men  spoke  of  the 
attack  upon  Sumner,  the  determination  of  the  South  to  see 
slavery  planted  in  the  West,  South 
ern  hatred  of  the  "Black  Repub 
licans",  all  indicated  that  war 
between  the  sections  might  not  be 
long  delayed.  But  when  Buchanan 
took  the  presidential  chair  in  1857 
he  hoped  he  could  bring  in  good 
feeling.1  He  announced  privately 
after  his  election  that  the  great 
object  of  his  administration  would 
be  to  "arrest,  if  possible,  the  agi 
tation  of  the  slavery  question  at 
the  North,  and  to  destroy  sec 
tional  parties".  Such  a  task 
proved  too  great  for  human 
power. 

Almost  immediately  after  the 


1  James  Buchanan  had  held  a  number  of  important  positions  before  he 
became  President.  He  had  been  a  member  of  both  houses  of  Congress, 
Secretary  of  State  and  minister  to  England.  He  had  performed  all  his 
public  duties  acceptably,  but  had  never  shown  remarkable  brilliancy  or 
talent.  He  had  long  been  a  leader  in  the  party,  but  was  not  so  able  as  some 
of  its  more  positive  members. 

The  chief  positions  in  his  cabinet  were  given  to  Lewis  Cass  of  Michigan, 
Secretary  of  State;  Ho  well  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury; 
John  B.  Floyd,  of  Virginia,  Secretary  of  War;  Jeremiah  S.  Black,  of 
Pennsylvania,  Attorney-General. 

365 


366  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

inauguration  the  Supreme  Court  gave  a  decision  in  an  im 
portant  case.  Several  years  before,  Dred  Scott,  a  negro  slave, 
had  been  taken  by  his  master  into  a  free  State, 
Scott  case".  an(*  also  mto  a  Part  of  the  national  domain  where 
slavery  was  forbidden  by  the  terms  of  the 
Missouri  compromise.  He  had  then  been  taken  back  to 
Missouri,  and  after  a  time  was  sold.  Scott  brought  suit 
against  his  master  for  assault  and  battery,  claiming  that  by 
going  into  free  territory  he  had  become  a  freeman.  The 
suit  was  taken  from  the  lower  courts  to  the  highest  Federal 
tribunal.  The  Supreme  Court  denied  that  Scott  had  become 
a  free  man,  asserted  that  persons  of  African  descent  could  not 
become  citizens. and  thus  obtain  the  right  to  sue  in  the  Federal 
courts,  and  declared  that  the  Missouri  compromise  was  uncon 
stitutional,  inasmuch  as  Congress  had  no  authority  to  exclude 
slavery  from  the  Territories.  The  decision  of  the  court  was  not 
unanimous;  two  of  the  nine  judges  strongly  disagreed  with  it, 
and  two  others  did  not  acquiesce  in  all  its  parts.  We  may  notice 
that,  if  Scott,  being  a  negro,  could  not  as  a  citizen  sue  in  the 
courts,  the  court  should  have  dismissed  the  case  for  want  of 
jurisdiction,  without  proceeding  to  give  a  long  opinion  on  all 
the  merits  and  difficulties  of  the  controversy.  The  judges 
doubtless  thought  that  a  legal  decision  would  have  some  effect 
in  bringing  peace  to  the  country. 

The  decision  seemed  at  first  to  be  a  great  victory  for  slavery 
and  to  strike  a  heavy  blow  at  the  Republicans.     The  funda 
mental  Republican  principle  was  that  Congress 
The  attitude  of   cou\^  anci  must  exclude  slavery  from  national  ter- 

the  Republicans  T.     ,        ,      .   .  r     -  , 

toward  the  case,  ntory.  If  the  decision  of  the  court  were  to  stand 
as  good  law,  the  Republicans  must  give  up  their 
fight  for  congressional  action.  If  they  ignored  it,  they  posed  be 
fore  the  country  as  advocating  disobedience  to  the  decision  of  the 
highest  court  in  the  land.  The  situation  was  a  trying  one.  It 
was  too  late,  however,  for  an  " opinion"  to  settle  the  slavery 
question.  The  Republican  party  continued  to  work  against  the 
extension  of  slavery;  they  attacked  the  decision  on  the  ground 
that  it  was  not  a  judicial  opinion,  declaring  that  the  court  had 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  CRISIS  367 

gone  out  of  its  way  to  issue  a  political  manifesto.  In  the  long 
run  the  decision  helped  the  anti-slavery  cause,  for  it  brought 
home  to  men  the  need  of  resolute  action. 

Especially  after  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri    Compromise 
northern  opponents  of  slavery  ignored  or  attacked  the  fugitive 
slave  law.     Some  of  the  States  already  had  "per- 
s.       sonal  liberty  laws",  the  purpose  of  which  was  to 


prevent  free  negroes  from  being  carried  into  slav 
ery  on  the  plea  that  they  were  runaways,  and  to  put  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  enforcing  the  fugitive  slave  law.  Moreover,  a  great 

system  known  as  the  "underground  railroad"  had 
The  grown  up.  Its  object  was  to  aid  escaped  slaves 

ndiroadT          to  Pass  safely  through  the  Northern  States  on 

their  way  to  freedom  in  Canada.  There  were  many 
routes,  the  majority  leading  across  Indiana  or  Ohio  to  Lake 
Erie  or  the  Detroit  River.  The  fugitives  were  secretly  sheltered 
in  the  homes  of  sympathetic  persons  and  smuggled  on  from  one 
"station"  to  another  as  opportunity  offered.  Many  stood 
ready  to  give  a  helping  hand  to  the  hunted  black  man  and  to 
carry  him  a  little  way  on  his  perilous  journey.  It  is  difficult  to 
tell  how  many  were  thus  enabled  to  make  a  good  escape,  per 
haps  not  more  than  two  thousand  a  year;  but  the  people  of  the 
South  were  angered  by  the  fact  that  their  slaves  eluded  them, 
because  Northern  men  winked  at  breaches  of  the  law  or  openly 
sympathized  with  the  fugitives.1 

The  whole  North  was  held  responsible  for  the  doings  and 
words  of  the  Abolitionists,  yet  it  needs  to  be  repeated  here  that 


1The  importance  of  all  this  is  that  it  indicated  a  strong  sentiment  among 
many  of  the  Northern  people  and  any  attempt  at  a  rescue  called  attention 
to  slavery.  Even  men  with  no  great  sympathy  for  the  anti-slavery  cause 
in  general  would  not  disclose  a  negro's  hiding-place  or  would  even  give 
him  a  helping  hand.  "When  I  was  a  marshal",  said  a  man  once 
a  Federal  marshal  under  a  Democratic  administration,  "and  they  tried  to 
make  me  find  their  slaves,  I  would  say,  'I  do  not  know  where  your  niggers 
are,  but  I  will  see  if  I  can  find  them  out '.  So  I  always  went  to  Garrison's 
office  and  said,  'I  want  you  to  find  such  and  such  a  negro;  tell  me  where  he 
is'.  The  next  thing  I  knew  the  fellow  would  be  in  Canada".  See  Rhodes, 
II,  75- 


368  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

the  North  was  by  no  means  united  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 
After  the  Dred  Scott  case  and  the  trials  of  Kansas,  Northern 
men  leaned  more  and  more  toward  advanced 
s^ntime^re-  anti-slavery  sentiment;  it  must  be  remembered, 
garding  slavery,  however,  that  Gamsonian  Abolitionists  were  com 
paratively  few  in  numbers.  They  believed  in 
"no  union  with  slaveholders",  thinking  a  dissolution  of 
the  Union  better  than  a  recognition  of  the  crime  of  slav 
ery.  They  did  not  vote  or  advocate  political  action. 
They  believed  that  if  emancipation  were  to  take  place  it 
must  come  at  once,  because  the  nation  was  stained  and 
polluted  with  sin.  The  Republicans,  on  the  other  hand, 
while  opposed  to  the  whole  institution,  believed  in  acting 
only  as  far  as  there  was  constitutional  right  to  act;  they  believed 
in  using  political  measures,  and  not  simply  in  denouncing  slav 
ery  as  a  crime.  They  made  no  pretense  of  trying  to  wipe  out 
slavery  within  the  States  where  it  existed,  but  they  were  bent 
on  keeping  it  closely  within  those  limits.  It  must  be  noticed, 
too,  that  a  large  portion  of  the  Northern  people  were  not  ready 
to  go  even  thus  far,  still  clinging  fondly  to  the  hope  that  the 
question  would  settle  itself,  and  looking  upon  the  Republican 
party  as  a  sectional  party  whose  aims  were  dangerous  to  the 
Union.  In  spite  of  these  differences  the  Southerners,  or  many 
of  them  at  least,  believed  that  all  Northern  opponents  of  slavery 
were  at  heart  desirous  of  overthrowing  slavery  even  within  the 
Southern  States. 

By  this  time  the  weakness  of  slavery  had  been  shown  in  the 

struggle  for  Kansas.     Early  in  Buchanan's  administration  it 

became  evident  that  the  Free-State  men  must  win 

Thejiouth      es  in  the  contest  in  that  TerritOry.     Their  numbers 

were  constantly  increasing.  "We  are  losing  Kan 
sas",  said  a  Southern  paper  truly,  "because  we  are  lacking  in 
population".  In  1857  the  Free-State  men  gave  up  the  pretense 
that  they  had  formed  a  legal  State  Government.  They  took 
part  in  the  election  of  the  Territorial  Legislature,  defeated  the 
pro-slavery  element  at  the  polls,  and  elected  a  Legislature  in 
favor  of  free  soil.  Before  this  body  took  office  the  old  pro-slav- 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  CRISIS  369 

ery  Legislature  called  a  convention,  which  met  at  Lecompton 
and  formed  a  State  Constitution  recognizing  slavery.  This  in 
strument  was  not  fairly  submitted  to  the  people, 
but  only  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  there 
should  be  slavery  as  a  permanent  institution.  The 
people  were  not  allowed  to  vote  against  the  Constitution,  but 
must  cast  a  ballot  for  the  instrument  with  slavery  or  for  it  with 
out  slavery.  Moreover,  if  the  popular  verdict  should  be  against 
slavery,  the  Constitution  guaranteed  slave  property  already  in 
the  Territory.  Under  these  circumstances  the  anti-slavery  men 
refused  to  vote,  and  the  ballots  of  the  pro-slavery  men  gave  ap 
parent  popular  sanction  to  the  Constitution.  Shortly  after, 
the  Free-State  Legislature  submitted  the  instrument  again  to 
popular  vote  and  it  was  rejected.  The  question  of  the  admis 
sion  of  Kansas  under  the  Lecompton  Constitution  was  now  dis 
cussed  in  Congress.  The  Senate  passed  a  bill  for  its  admittance, 
but  the  measure  could  not  pass  the  House.  By  this  time 
(1858)  Kansas  was  fairly  in  the  power  of  the  Free-State 
men;  but  it  was  impossible  to  get  a  bill  through  Congress 
admitting  the  Territory  to  Statehood  with  a  Constitution 
forbidding  slavery. 

In  1858  occurred  the  great  debates  between  Lincoln  and 
Douglas.     They  were  rival  candidates  for  election  to  the  United 
States  Senate  from  Illinois,  and  agreed  to  hold  in. 
The  Lincoln-      various  parts  of  the  State  joint  discussions  upon 
debates.  the  important  issues  of  the  campaign.     Douglas 

was  the  strongest  and  keenest  debater  in  Congress, 
and  the  recognized  leader  of  the  Democratic  party  at  the  North. 
Lincoln  was  not  much  known  beyond  the  limits  of  his  own  State. 
The  whole  nation  watched  the  contest  with  interest,  and  the 
Republicans  were  surprised  and  delighted  at  the  shrewdness 
with  which  Lincoln  exposed  the  fallacies  of  his  opponent,  at  the 
quiet  humor  which  added  a  quaint  flavor  to  his  argument,  and 
at  the  plentiful  supply  of  common  sense  which  enabled  him  to 
analyze  the  difficult  problems  of  the  time  and  to  show  their 
simplest  meanings.  He  did  not  succeed  in  defeating  Douglas, 
who  was  once  again  chosen  to  the  Senate;  but  he  clearly  marked 
2? 


370  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

out  the  course  of  his  party:  unflinching  opposition  to  slavery, 
because  slavery  and  freedom  could  not  abide  together;  no  inter 
ference  with  slavery  in  the  South,  but  steadfast  opposition  to 
its  extension,  lest  freedom  itself  be  overcome;  a  full  appreciation 
that  the  only  basis  for  peace  was  the  gradual  disappearance  of 
the  whole  system.  Seward  was  soon  to  declare  that  there  was 
an  "irrepressible  conflict"  between  slavery  and  freedom,  and 
now  Lincoln  said:  "In  my  opinion  it  [agitation]  will  not  cease 

until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reached  and  passed. 

A  house  divided  against  itself   cannot  stand.     I 

believe  this  Government  cannot  endure  perma 
nently  half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be 
dissolved,  I  do  not  expect  the  house  to  fall,  but  I  do  expect  it 
will  cease  to  be  divided". 

In  the  decade  between  1850  and  1860  the  United  States  was, 
on  the  whole,  prosperous  and  progressive.     In  1857  there  was 

a  financial  crisis  and  a  panic;  but  the  country  was, 

Panic  of  1857.         r,  , .  .,  .,  •          W 

after  a  time,  on  its  way  to  prosperity  again.  The 
census  of  1860  showed  about  thirty-one  million  people,  a  gain 
of  about  eight  million  in  ten  years.  Immigrants  continued  to 

pour  into  our  land.  Inventions  multiplied;  there 
perity.°  were  nearly  four  thousand  patents  issued  in  the  year 

1860  alone.  Ocean  commerce  had  grown,  and  our 
merchantmen  carried  the  American  flag  to  every  sea.  Americans 
were  proud  of  the  fact  that  they  could  now  dispute  "  the  navi 
gation  of  the  world  with  England",  and  that  England  could 
"no  longer  be  styled  mistress  of  the  sea".  Though  our  export 
trade  was  still  largely  in  agricultural  products,  much  capital 
was  invested  in  manufacturing.  The  iron  industry  of  Penn 
sylvania  had  assumed  large  proportions,  and  the  cotton  and 
woolen  industries  of  the  Eastern  States  had  grown  greatly  in 
recent  years.  In  1860  the  products  of  mechanical  industry  in 
the  United  States  were  worth  almost  two  billion  dollars.  The 
railroad  system,  especially  in  the  North  and  West,  was  being 
rapidly  extended,  and  the  East  and  West  were  being  thoroughly 
bound  together — an  important  factor  in  the  military  as  well  as 
the  industrial  strength  of  the  Northern  section. 


Springfield 

»plee     Jacksonville 


Railroads  In  operation 

Jan.1,1850 
Railroads  completed 

during  1850 


Railroads  In  operation 

Jan.1,1860 
•HlllllllHI  Railroads  completed 
during  I860 


THE  GROWTH  OF  RAILROADS 
From  F.  L.  Paxson's  The  Railroads  of  the  Old  Northwest  before  the  Civil  War 


372  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

"  The  North  had  now  passed  far  ahead  of  the  South  in  popula 
tion  arid  in  wealth.  When  the  Constitution  was  adopted  the 
two  sections  were  not  dissimilar  in  these  partic- 
ulars'  According  to  the  census  of  1790,  the  in- 
in  population,  habitants  of  the  States  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line  were  1,968,040,  and  of  those  south  of  the  line 
1,961,1 74.  But  in  1860  the  free  States  and  Territories  had  a  pop 
ulation  of  21,184,305,  while  the  slave  States  had  10,259,016,  of 
whom  about  one-third  were  slaves.  This  difference,  yearly  grow 
ing  more  marked,  was  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  European 
immigrant  would  not  go  and  make  his  home  in  a  section  where 
labor  was  considered  the  duty  only  of  bondmen.  The  struggle 
that  had  been  maintained  until  1850  to  keep  a  balance  of 
power  in  the  Senate,  by  admitting  slave  and  free  States  in  pairs, 
had  to  be  abandoned.  Minnesota  and  Oregon  were  admitted  to 
the  Union  in  Buchanan's  administration. 

But  in  wealth  and  material  prosperity  the  free  States  had 
gained  in  even  a  greater  degree.  Slave  labor  is  not  fit  for  the 
factory  or  the  workshop,  where  careful,  conscientious  mechan 
ical  skill  is  required.  Partly  because  of  this  fact  and  partly  be 
cause  cotton  and  tobacco  were  profitable  crops  which  attracted 
people  to  agricultural  life,  there  were  few  factories  in  the  South 
ern  States.  Almost  everything  had  to  be  obtained  from  the  North 
or  Europe,  in  exchange  for  the  great  staples  cotton  and  tobacco. 
In  1850  there  were  1,260,442  persons  engaged  in  manufacturing, 
in  the  arts,  and  in  mining  in  the  Ndrth;  in  the  South  there  were 
326,000.  The  commonest  necessities  of  life^with  the  exception 
of  the  food  that  could  be  raised  on  the  plantation,  were- imported 
or  brought  from  the  North.  There  was  one  great  crop — cotton 
— a  crop  so  large  that  the  South  felt  that  the  product  made  it 
rich  and  gave  it  power.  But  if  the  market  for  this  staple  were 
taken  away,  the  people  would  be  sure  to  find  that  they  were  al 
most  incapable  of  self-support  for  more  than  a  limited  period. 
Moreover,  even  in  the  field  of  work  to  which  slavery  had  driven 
the  South,  in  agriculture  itself,  methods  were  wasteful;  the  soil 
was  not  carefully  or  systematically  tilled;  it  was,  on  the  con 
trary,  systematically  exhausted  The  results  are  clearly  shown 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  CRISIS  373 

by  the  fact  that  Southern  plantations  were  worth  less  than  ten 
dollars  an  acre  in  1860,  while  Northern  farms  were  worth  about 
three  times  that  amount.1 

Slavery  was  more  expensive  than  freedom.  At  first  it  seems 
hardly  possible  that  this  can  be  true,  but  an  examination  of  the 
facts  will  prove  the  statement.  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin  saw  this  a  hundred  years  ago  and  more.  "The 
labor  of  slaves",  he  says,  "can  never  be  so  cheap 
here  as  the  labor  of  the  workingman  in  Great  Britain.  Any  one 
may  compute  it.  Reckon,  then,  interest  of  the  first  purchase  of 
a  slave,  the  insurance  or  risk  on  his  life,  his  clothing  and  diet, 
expenses  in  sickness  and  loss  of  time,  loss  by  neglect  of  business 
(neglect  wrhich  is  natural  to  the  man  who  is  not  to  be  benefited 
by  his  own  care  or  diligence),  expense  of  a  driver  to  keep  him  at 
work,  and  his  pilfering  from  time  to  time  (almost  every  slave 
being,  from  the  nature  of  slavery,  a  thief),  and  compare  the 
whole  amount  with  the  wages  of  a  ^manufacturer  of  iron  or  wool 
in  England;  you  will  see  that  labor  is  much  cheaper  there  than  it 
ever  can  be  by  negroes  here".  A  careful  examination  of  two 
farms,  one  tilled  by  slaves  and  one  by  hired  laborers,  could  prove 
to  the  inquirer  that  slave  labor  was  extremely  expensive.2  Only 

1  "The  Southerners  maintained  that  their  wealth  was  due  to  their 
peculiar  institution;  that  without  slavery  there  could  not  be  a  liberal  cot 
ton  supply.    This  assertion  has  been  effectually  disproved  by  the  results 
since  emancipation,  while  even  in  the  decade  before  the  war  it  could  with 
good  and  sufficient  reason  be  questioned . . .     The  demand  for  cotton  and 
negroes  went  hand  in  hand;  a  high  price  of  the  staple  made  a  high  price  for 
the  human  cattle  . . .    This  kind  of  property  was  very  high  in  the  decade 
before  the  war,  a  good  field  hand  being  worth  from  one  thousand  to  fifteen 
hundred  dollars".    Rhodes,  History,  I,  314-15. 

All  this  comparison  between  the  North  and  the  South  may  now  seem 
profitless;  but  it  helps  us  to  see:  (i)  how  an  industrial  regime  may  get  its 
hold  upon  a  people,  and  they  cannot  see  the  light;  (2)  how  a  false  indus 
trial,  social  order  really  weakened  a  great  people;  (3)  how  the  North  by 
virtue  of  superior  strength  crushed  the  South. 

2  It  is  true  that  fortunes  were  made,  often  quickly  made,  from  cotton, 
but,  in  finding  the  value  of  any  industrial  and  social  system,  you  must  take 
into  account  the  prosperity  of  the  workman,  as  well  as  the  employer. 

If  you  add  the  many  things  that  cannot  be  measured  in  dollars,  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  North  was  immeasurably  stronger.  In  all  the  calculations 


374  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

men  with  large  capital  could  afford  to  have  slaves  in  any  num 
ber  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  plantation,  and  the  larger 
the  number,  the  more  profitable  the  system  was  likely  to  prove. 
Thus  it  was  that  the  slaves  were  passing  into  the  hands  of  a  few 
persons.1 

Slavery  and  ignorant  labor  retarded  Southern  development. 
Slavery  had  deadened,  too,  the  general  intellectual  activity  of 
the  people  and  hindered  their  progress.  The  better 
classes,  who  could  travel,  import  their  books  and 
works  of  art,  and  keep  in  touch  with  the  world, 
were  cultured  and  charming;  the  large  planters,  with  their  sense 
of  power  and  responsibility  and  their  wide  range  of  acquaint 
ances,  were,  as  a  rule,  men  of  mental  vigor,  many  of  them 
having  distinct  talents  in  politics  and  statecraft.  But,  in  spite 
of  the  graces  and  talents  of  the  planter  class,  slavery  hung  like 
a  millstone  about  the  neck  of  the  people.  If  we  judge  by  the 
number  of  schools  and  churches  and  newspapers  and  libraries, 
or  by  roads  and  railroads  and  all  means  of  communication, 
by  the  hundreds  of  things  which  help  us  to  determine  the 
status  of  a  community,  we  see  that  the  South  was  now  hope 
lessly  backward.  In  every  respect  the  census  returns  of  each 
decade  showed  that  freedom  was  leaving  slavery  behind.  "It 
was  evident  that  the  slave  States  were  worse  fitted  at  the  end 
of  each  successive  period  for  a  forcible  struggle  with  the  free 
States,  and  that  the  scepter  was  departing  from  the  South." 

In  all  that  makes  for  education  the  South  was  lamentably 
poor.  Outside  of  the  houses  of  the  rich  in  the  larger  cities  or 
the  homes  of  the  great  planters  one  would  find  neither  "  a  book 
of  Shakespeare,  nor  a  pianoforte  or  sheet  of  music,  nor  the  light 


of  the  opponents  of  slavery  before  the  war  too  little  attention  was  given 
to  the  fact  that  the  South  had  ignorant  as  well  as  slave  labor,  a  trouble  which 
abolition  of  slavery  could  not  immediately  cure;  and  probably  that  fact 
must  be  taken  into  consideration  in  all  of  the  matters  mentioned  in  the 
text  above. 

Slavery  was  at  its  best  economically,  where  the  individual  slave 
was  reduced  to  a  mere  cog  in  the  machinery  and  where  many  of  them 
under  competent  management  devoted  their  labor  to  one  crop. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  CRISIS 


375 


Few  schools. 


John  Brown's 
raid.     1859. 


of  a  Carcel  or  other  good  center-table  or  reading,  lamp,  nor  an 
engraving  or  copy  of  any  kind  of  a  work  of  art  of  the  slightest 
merit".1  In  the  North  (1850)  there  were  62,459 
schools  and  2,770,381  pupils,  while  at  the  South 
there  were  only  29,041  schools  attended  by  583,292  pupils.  But, 
worse  than  all  else,  a  fear  of  the  introduction  of  noxious  prin 
ciples  that  would  endanger  slavery  cast  its  shadow  upon  the 
whole  school  system,  for  education  can  not  flourish  in  the  heavy 
atmosphere  of  dread  or  repression.  In  education,  as  in  indus 
try,  slavery  was  degrading;  it  acted  like  a  moral  curse,  poisoning 
the  life  blood  of  the  people. 

The  Southern  people  had  for  many  years  declared  that  the 
agitation  of  the  slavery  question  was  a  menace  to  their  safety. 
They  declared,  too,  that  the  real  intent  and  wish 
of  the  Abolitionists  was  to  arouse  a  slave  insurrec 
tion  and  to  bring  woe  and  devastation  to  the  whole 
South.  An  event  now 
happened  that  seemed  to 
them  to  prove  them  right 
in  all  their  charges  and 
suspicions.  This  was  the 
famous  raid  of  John  Brown 
into  Virginia.  Brown 
was  a  New  Englander  by 
birth,  who  had  taken  an 
active  part  in  the  bloody 

struggle  in  Kansas.      In 

..  ...       .  JOHN  BROWN  s  FORT 

fact,      among         border 

ruffians"  and  fierce  Free-State  men  the  old  Puritan  had 
distinguished  himself  for  fearlessness  and  violence.  Now 
that  Kansas  was  secured,  he  hoped  to  strike  a  more 
effective  blow  for  freedom.  His  design  was  to  seize 
the  arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry,  free  the  blacks  in  the  neigh 
borhood,  and  retreat  to  some  stronghold  in  the  moun- 


^Imsted,  The  Cotton  Kingdom,  vol.  ii,  p.  285.    Read  Rhodes,  vol.  i, 
chap.  iv. 


376  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

tains.  Thence  he  would  make  incursions  into  the  neigh 
boring  regions,  and  make  his  name  a  terror  to  the  whole  South. 
He  hoped,  indeed,  to  force  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves,  not 
perhaps  by  inciting  a  general  revolt,  but  by  gathering  them  up 
from  time  to  time  and  by  making  property  in  slaves  insecure.  It 
was  the  scheme  of  a  madman,  and  yet  some  of  the  ardent  anti- 
slavery  men  to  whom  Brown  confided  his  plan  seemed  to  have 
had  faith  in  its  success.  In  the  autumn  of  1859  he  seized  the 
national  arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry  and  began  to  free  the  slaves 
in  the  neighborhood. 

Troops  were  soon  hurried  to  the  spot  and  the  little  band  was 

overpowered.     Some  of  the  men  were  shot  in  the  struggle. 

Brown  himself,  with  several  others,  was  captured. 

Its  failure. 

They  were  speedily  brought  to  trial,  convicted,  and 
hanged.  The  whole  country  was  stirred  by  this  event.  The 
South  believed,  as  never  before,  in  the  wickedness  of  the  North. 
The  moderate  people  of  the  Northern  States  condemned  the  act; 
but,  wild  as  the  plan  had  been,  the  devotion  of  Brown  to  his 
sense  of  duty,  the  calmness  with  which  he  met  his  fate,  his  readi 
ness  to  die  in  the  cause  of  freedom,  won  the  attention  even  of 
the  scoffer  and  gave  a  certain  amount  of  dignity  to  Abolitionism. 
For  a  time,  however,  this  act  injured  the  anti-slavery  cause,  be 
cause  reasonable  men  could  not  sympathize  with  such  methods 
and  purposes. 

In  tne  election  of  1860  four  candidates  were  nominated  for 
the  presidency.     Although  there  had  been  differences  between 

the  Northern  and  Southern  wings  of  the  Demo- 
of  i86<>eC  cratic  party  up  to  this  time,  they  had  managed  to 

work  together.  This  now  proved  impossible,  the 
Northern  element  refusing  to  accept  Southern  principles  with 
reference  to  slavery  in  the  Territories.  The  Southerners  had 
by  this  time  lost  all  patience  with  popular  sovereignty.  They 
utterly  renounced  it  and  embraced  the  principle  of  the  Dred 
Scott  case,  which  was  in  reality  the  earlier  principle  of  Calhoun, 
and  demanded  that  Congress  should  protect  slavery  in  the  Ter 
ritories.  They  nominated  John  C.  Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky, 
and  Joseph  Lane,  of  Oregon.  The  Northern  Democrats,  under 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  CRISIS  377 

the  lead  of  Douglas,  still  clung  to  popular  sovereignty,  and  at 
the  same  time,  quite  inconsistently,1  declared  their  willingness 
to  submit  to  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court.  They  nom 
inated  Douglas  and  Herschel  V.  Johnson,  of  Georgia.2  The 
Republicans  denied  the  "  authority  of  Congress,  of  a  Territorial 
legislature,  or  of  any  individual  to  give  legal  existence  to  slavery 
in  the  Territories";  they  repudiated  the  doctrine  of  popular 
sovereignty,  and  of  the  Dred  Scott  case  as  well.  Their  nominees 
were  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  and  Hannibal  Hamlin,  of 
Maine.  A  fourth  party  nominated  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee, 
and  Edward  Everett,  of  Massachusetts;  it  was  called  the  Con 
stitutional  Union  party.  It  declared  for  the  "  Constitution  of 
the  country,  the  Union  of  the  States,  and  the  enforcement  of 
the  laws".  These  broad  terms  and  generous  phrases  could  have 

1  The  Supreme  Court  in  the  Dred  Scott  case  declared  that  the  National 
Government  could  not  exclude  slavery  from  the  Territories.    If  that  be  so, 
then  a  Territory  could  not  exclude  slavery  either,  for  it  is  created  and  its 
power  bestowed  upon  it  by  the  National  Government.     The  doctrine  of 
popular  sovereignty  was  just  as  contradictory  of  the  court's  opinion  as  was 
the  Republican  doctrine,  that  it  was  within  the  power  of  Congress  to 
exclude  slavery. 

2  The  Democratic  party  split  at  a  national  convention  at  Charleston. 
The  Southern  wing  wanted  the  Northern  wing,  which  supported  Douglas 
and  desired  his  nomination  for  the  presidency,  to  adopt  a  platform  practi 
cally  asserting  the  legality  of  slavery  in  the  territories  and  the  duty  of  the 
national  government  to  protect  slavery  there.  The  Northern  Democrats  had, 
however,  gone  as  far  as  they  would;  they  had  advocated  popular  sover 
eignty,  and  they  had  tried  to  scowl  down  anti-slavery  agitation,  but  they 
could  not  go  further.    Yancey  of  Alabama,  one  of  the  Southern  fire-eaters, 
an  eloquent  speaker,  taunted  the  Northern  Democrats  with  their  disregard 
for  Southern  interests:  "When  I  was  a  schoolboy  in  the  Northern  States, 
abolitionists  were  pelted  with  rotten  eggs.    But  now  this  band  of  Aboli 
tionists  has  spread  and  grown  into  three  bands — Black  Republicans,  the 
Free  Soilers,  and  Squatter  Sovereignty  men — all  representing  the  common 
sentiment   that   slavery  is   wrong.    I  say  it  in  no  disrespect  but  it  is  a 
logical  argument  that  your  admission    that  slavery  is  wrong   has  been 
the  cause   of   the  discord".     The   South   at   the   convention   practically 
demanded   that   the   Northern    Democrats  declare  slavery  to  be  right. 
"Gentlemen  of  the  South",    declared    Senator    Pugh    of    Ohio,    "you 
mistake  us — you  mistake  us — we  will  not  do  it"!    When  the  Democratic 
party  broke  asunder  the  day  was  near  at  hand  when  the  whole  Union 
would  be  shattered. 


378  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

little  meaning  in  such  a  crisis;  but  these  men  still  hoped  that 
words  and  resolutions  and  good  purposes  might  quiet  the  tem 
pest  and  save  the  Union.  Lincoln  was  elected  by  a  good  elec 
toral  majority  over  all  other  candidates;  but  the  Republicans 
were  still  a  minority  of  the  people,  for  they  cast  only  about  eigh 
teen  hundred  thousand  votes,  while  all  of  their  opponents  cast 
about  a  million  more.  The  situation  was  therefore  essentially 
different  from  what  it  would  have  been,  had  the  party  been  sure 
of  anything  like  a  united  North  behind  it. 

A  number  of  times  the  leading  men  at  the  South  had  declared 
that  the  Southern  States  could  no  longer  remain  in  the  Union 
if   the   Republican  party  were   successful.     The 

North  had  not  taken  these  tnreats  very  seriously, 
secession.  They  were  thought  to  be  but  bluster,  in  which 

the  South  was  considered  a  master.  "The  old 
Mumbo-Jumbo",  said  James  Russell  Lowell,  "  is  occasionally  pa 
raded  at  the  North,  but,  however  many  old  women  maybe  fright 
ened,  the  pulse  of  the  stock  market  remains  provokingly  calm", 
But  in  some  parts  of  the  South  men  were  desperately  in  earnest, 
and  had  no  intention  of  resting  content  with  words.  South  Caro 
lina  was  ready  to  take  the  lead — not  to  stand  on  her  rights  and 
nullify  congressional  action,  as  in  1832,  but  to  withdraw  entirely 
from  the  Union.  December  20,  1860,  a  popular  convention  at 
Charleston  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession.  Its  cardinal  words 
are  as  follows: 

"We,  the  people  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  in  con 
vention  assembled,  do  declare  and  ordain  .  .  .  that  the  Union 
now  subsisting  between  South  Carolina  and  other  States  under 
the  name  of  'The  United  States  of  America '  is  hereby  dissolved". 
Before  the  end  of  the  winter  Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida,  Missis 
sippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas  passed  like  ordinances.  Other 
Southern  States  hesitated,  and  for  the  time  being  took  no  de 
cisive  action. 

When  Congress  met  after  the  election,  President  Buchanan 
sent  in  his  message  (December  3,  1860).  The  whole  country 
read  it  with  great  interest,  for  the  stand  which  the  President 
would  take  toward  secession  was  of  the  utmost  importance. 


OUISIESIW 

MERCURY 

EXTRA: 


Passed  unanimously  at  1.15  o'cfocfc,  JP.  .W,  December 
aO/A,  I860. 

AN  ORDINANCE 

"To  dissolve  the  Union  between  the  State  <&  South  Carolina  and 
other  States  united  vttlh  her  under  the  compact  entitled  «  The 
Constitution  oj  the  fitted  Slates  o/  dmerlca.» 

W^foPeyk  of  t*e  State  c/Souti  Carolina,*  ComatUn  assembled,  do  declare  and  ordain,  and 
it  is  hereby  declared  and  ordained, 

That  the  Ordinance  adopted  bj  us  In  Convention,  on  the  twentj-third  d»y  of  May,  in  the 
ye«of  oar  Lord  one  thoound  seven 'haadred  ud  eighty-eight,  whereby  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  State*  of  Americt  wu  ratified,  ud  also,  afl  Acts  tad  puts  of  Acts  of  the  General 
A»mbly  of  Uus  Btate,  ntif/iag  amendoenla  of  the  said  Constitution, MO  hereby  repealed; 
•ad  that  the  naloa  now  nlntotiog  between  South  Carolina  and  other  States,  under  the  name  of 
•The  United  States  of  America."  is  hereby  diafohed, 


THE 


UNION 


DISSOLVED! 


380  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Already  South  Carolina  was  preparing  to  carry  out  her  threats 
of  disunion.     Buchanan  denied  that  the  right  of  secession  was 

constitutional,  and  asserted  his  intention  to  retain 
message.nS  possession  of  the  property  of  the  United  States 

in  the  South;  but  he  entered  laboriously  into  a 
long  argument  to  prove  that  there  was  no  legal  right  to  "  coerce 
a  State"  or  compel  it  to  remain  in  the  Union  against  its  will. 
He  cast  the  blame  for  existing  difficulties  on  the  North,  because 
of  the  violation  of  the  fugitive  slave  law  and  the  continual  en 
croachments  upon  Southern  rights.  He  even  spoke  encourag 
ingly  of  getting  Cuba;  this  meant,  of  course,  more  slave  terri 
tory.  There  was  nothing  in  the  message  from  one  end  to  the 
other  which  would  be  likely  to  fill  with  hope  and  courage  those 
who  were  longing  for  strength  and  wisdom  in  high  places,  or  to 
make  those  falter  and  hesitate  who  were  plotting  a  disruption 
of  the  Union.1 

Buchanan's  position  all  through  this  time  was  a  trying  one. 
In  December  his  Cabinet  began  to  break  up.2     Cass  resigned 

because  he  thought  the  President  was  not  acting 
Buchanan  and  with  sufficient  vigor  to  maintain  Federal  authority. 
forts.°X  Black  became  Secretary  of  State  in  his  place.  Cobb 

and  Floyd  resigned  to  take  active  parts  in  the  move 
ment  for  secession,  and  Thompson,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
soon  followed  them;  and,  as  their  places  were  filled  with  Union 

1  It   should  be  noticed  that  the  Constitution  does  not  give  a  right  to 
coerce  a  State,  in  so  many  words;  it  provides  for  a  government  which  is 
directly  and  immediately  over  people.    The  citizens  of  South  Carolina  were 
also  citizens  of  the  United  States.    The  Government  of  the  United  States 
was  immediately  over  them,  and  was  just  as  much  their  government  as 
the  government  at  Columbia  was.    The  Federal  Government  could  enforce 
its  laws  against  the  citizens  of  South  Carolina;  and  therefore  there  was  no 
need  to  consider  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  it  could  coerce  a  State. 
In  the  Philadelphia  Convention  in  1787,  James  Wilson  pointed  out  the 
real  situation.     "In  explaining  his  reasons",  said  Madison  in  his  Journal, 
"it  was  necessary  to  observe  the  twofold  relations  in  which  the  people 
would  stand,  first,  as  citizens  of  the  General  Government,  and,  secondly, 
as  citizens  of  their  particular  State.  .  .  .     Both  governments  were  derived 
from  the  people,  both  meant  for  the  people;  both,  therefore,  ought  to  be 
regulated  by  the  same  principles". 

2  Read  Rhodes,  History,  vol.  iii,  p.  187. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  CRISIS  381 

men,  before  the  middle  of  the  winter  Buchanan  had  a  loyal  Cab 
inet.  When  the  Southern  States  passed  the  ordinances  of  se 
cession  they  took  possession  of  the  Federal  forts  and  other  prop 
erty  within  their  limits.  Their  theory  was  that  the  land  be 
longed  to  them,  but  they  professed  willingness  to  pay  for  the 
improvements.  With  the  exception  of  four  forts  on  the  Gulf 
and  the  forts  in  Charleston  harbor,  these  positions  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  secessionists  without  trouble.  The  position  at 
Charleston  was  of  special  interest  and  importance.  Fort  Sum- 
ter  was  held  by  a  small  force  under  Major  Anderson.  He  deter 
mined  to  hold  his  position  until  ordered  by  the  National  Govern 
ment  to  retire.  Buchanan  refused  to  give  up  the  place  to  the 
South  Carolina  authorities.  Early  in  January  an  attempt  was 
made  to  send  relief  to  the  little  garrison,  whose  stronghold  was 
now  menaced  by  the  batteries  that  had  been  thrown  up  to 
command  it  and  the  approaches  to  it.  A  small  steamer,  the 
Star  of  the  West,  was  dispatched  with  this  assistance.  The 
batteries  opened  fire  on  her,  and  she  gave  up  the  attempt  to 
relieve  Sumter.  This  happened  early  in  January,  and  for  three 
months  and  more  Anderson  and  his  brave  little  force  continued 
to  hold  the  fort  for  the  Union  at  the  very  gates  of  the  proud 
State  that  was  leading  the  movement  for  secession. 

The  session  of  Congress  in  the  winter  of  1861  was  a  gloomy 
one,  largely  taken  up  with  discussions  of  compromise  and  con 
cession,  for  men  still  hoped  against  hope  that  the 
compromise.  Union  could  be  saved  without  war.  The  proposals 
of  Senator  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  were  long  con 
sidered  in  the  Senate,  and  many  persons  thought  that  a  com 
promise  could  be  reached  on  the  basis  he  advocated.  He  pro 
posed  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  one  of  them  providing 
that  the  line  36°  30'  should  be  run  through  to  the  Pacific  to 
separate  slave  territory  from  free.  But  a  committee  appointed 
by  the  Senate  to  consider  these  proposals  could  come  to  no 
agreement.  The  Republican  members  of  the  committee  voted 
against  the  proposition,  and  without  substantial  agreement  in 
the  committee  there  could  be  no  chance  for  the  amendments 
before  Congress  or  the  people.  So  this  device  failed.  The 


382  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

House  had  no  better  success  in  agreeing  upon  a  compromise  than 
had  the  Senate.  At  the  suggestion  of  Virginia,  a  "  peace  con 
vention"  was  held  at  Washington  in  midwinter.  Delegates 
were  present  from  twenty-one  States,  but  the  assembly  accom 
plished  nothing.  Some  of  the  Northern  people  were  now  timor 
ous  and  fearful,  and  longed  for  concession  and  settlement  on 
almost  any  basis.  Others  seemed  to  see  that  they  could  not 
give  up  the  fair  results  of  the  election  and  call  their  action  com 
promise,1  for  the  Republican  party  was  pledged  to  oppose  the 
spread  of  slavery  anywhere,  either  north  or  south  of  36°  30'. 

In  February  delegates  from  six  Southern    States  2  met   at 

Montgomery,  Ala.     They  organized  a  confederacy  called  the 

Confederate  States  of  America  and  agreed  upon  a 

The  Confederate  constitution,  which  was  in  most  respects  similar  to 

Africa!  that  of  the  United  States.     They  elected  Jefferson 

Davis  President,  and  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  of 

Georgia,  Vice-President. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  give  here  at  length  the  arguments  used 
in  favor  of  the  right  of  secession.  John  C.  Calhoun,  thirty 
years  before,  had  clearly  outlined  them,  and  in 
argument*"51  considering  his  statements  in  regard  to  State  sov 
ereignty  and  nullification  we  have  seen  briefly 
what  might  be  said  in  favor  of  the  right  of  a  State  to  secede.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  the  Southerners  believed  that  they 
were  acting  strictly  within  their  legal  rights;  that  each  State  had 
entered  into  a  compact  or  agreement  with  other  States,  and  that 
when  that  agreement  was  violated  or  the  interests  of  a  State  no 
longer  subserved  by  the  Union,  it  was  at  liberty  to  withdraw. 
They  had  been  for  some  years  saturated  with  Calhoun's  doc 
trines,  and  the  peculiar  character  of  slavery  had  put  them  in  a 


1  Lincoln  let  his  opinion  be  known  to  a  few  of  the  influential  men.    He 
objected  to  dividing  the  Territories  by  a  geographic  line.     "Let  this  be 
done",  he  said,  "and  immediately  filibustering  and  extending  slavery  re 
commences". 

2  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Florida,   and  Missis 
sippi.    Texas  delegates  were  appointed  a  little  later  than  the  first  meeting 
of  this  convention. 


THE  COMING  OF  THE  CRISIS 


383 


defensive  attitude.    Hence  they  had  come  to  consider  the  State 

as  the  chief  guardian  of  their  interests,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 

a  feeling  of   national   patriotism 

was  growing  daily  at  the  North. 

The  North  felt  more  surely,  year 

by  year,  the  fact  that  the  Ameri 

can  people  were  a  nation,  and  that 

the   republic   must  not   be   torn 

asunder.     But  slavery  made  the 

Southern  people   feel   that   they 

were   different  from  the    North, 

from  the  rest  of  the  world,  in 

deed;  that  they  had  their  own  sep 

arate  institutions  and  must   de 

fend  them. 

The  North  held  that  secession 
neither  more  nor  less   than 

revolution.    The  people  believed  with  unwaver- 
^  fajtn  tnat  tne  ]jnion  was  One  and  indestruct- 

.,,11  r  111 

ible;  that  they  must  use  force  to  crush  a  rebel 
lion  which  would  break  into  pieces  the  republic  of 
which  they  had  grown  so  proud.  When  the  time  of  action  came 
they  did  not  stop  to  discuss  fine  points  of  law,  because  fervent 
love  of  country  was  burning  in  their  hearts.  Even  those  who 
had  argued  in  favor  of  Southern  rights,  and  spoken  in  behalf  of 
State  sovereignty,  were  not  ready  to  accept  the  consequences  of 
such  doctrine.  They  felt  the  national  life,  and  were  prepared 
to  announce  its  existence  on  the  field  of  battle. 

Slavery  caused  the  Civil  War.    It  is  true  that  the  North 
fought  at  first  not  to  free  the  negro,  but  to  preserve  the  Union; 
few  were  'ready  to  admit  that  the  end  would  be 
forcible  abolition.    But  the  South  seceded  because 

.  .. 

the  Republicans  opposed  the  extension  of  slavery, 
because  the  Southerners  believed  that  slavery  would 
be  unsafe  even  in  their  own  States,  and  because  the  leaders  were 
driven  to  madness  by  a  long  struggle  for  equality  in  which  they 
now  saw  themselves  beaten..  It  is  true  that  slavery  caused  the  war, 


was 
Northem  senti- 

ment  toward 

the  union. 


slavery  was 

destructive  of 

Union. 


384  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

and,  as  we  shall  see,  the  war  put  slavery  away;  but  the  war  was 
for  the  Union,  and  it  brought  into  being  a  better  and  greater 
Union  than  ever  before,  not  simply  a  legal,  formal,  union  of 
States,  but  a  real  union  of  feeling  and  impulses  and  sympathies, 
such  as  could  not  exist  while  slavery  was  vitiating  the  life  of  one 
great  section  of  the  people. 

REFERENCES 

HART,  Contemporaries,  Volume  IV,  Chapters  XI,  XII;  WILSON, 
Division  and  Reunion,  pp.  196-219;  BURGESS,  The  Civil  War  and  the 
Constitution,  Volume  I,  Chapters  I- VI;  MORSE,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
Volume  I,  pp.  111-250;  STOREY,  Sumner,  Chapters  X,  XI;  HART, 
Chase,  Chapter  VII;  LOTHROP,  Seward,  pp.  168-262;  MCLAUGHLIN, 
Lewis  Cass,  pp.  328-350.  Longer  accounts:  SCHOULER,  Volume  V, 
Chapter  XXII;  RHODES,  Volume  II,  Chapters  IX-XI;  Volume 
III,  Chapters  XIII-XIV;  CHADWICK,  The  Eve  of  the  Civil  War. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


Lincoln's 
early  life. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1809.    His 

father  moved  later  to  Indiana,  and  thence  to  Illinois.  The  fam 
ily  were  miserably  poor,  the  father  shiftless  and 
utterly  lacking  in  force  of  character.  The  early 
life  of  the  boy  was  spent  in  the  midst  of  squalor 

and  extreme  poverty.     He  is  said  to 

have  been  at  school  only  one  year  in 

his  whole  life.     What  books  he  could 

lay   hands    on,    however,    he    read 

eagerly.     He  used  to  write  and  do 

"sums",  we  are  told,  on  the  wooden 

shovel  by  the  fireside,  and  to  shave 

off  the  surface  in  order  to  renew  his 

labor.      By  dint  of  perseverance  he 

educated  himself  in  some  way  with- 

out  the  help  of  schools;  and  we  find 

in  his  later  life  that  few  men  could 

use  the  English  language  so  simply 

and  effectively  as  he,  and  few  men 

thought  and  spoke  with  such  clear 
ness    or  showed  such  keen    insight 

into   the  difficult    problems    of    the 

time.    . 

He  managed  to  get  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Illinois,  was 

elected  to  the  Legislature,  and  finally  to  Congress.  He  was  at 
first  a  Whig,  but  joined  the  Republican  party  when 
it  was  organized,  becoming  at  once  one  of  its  most 
prominent  members.  He  won  for  the  first  time 

national  attention  and  respect  in  the  famous  debates  with  Doug 
las  in  1858.    The  skill  which  Lincoln  showed  in  these  discus- 
26  385 


His  political 
career. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

sions,  where  he  was  at  least  a  match  for  his  renowned  antagonist, 
won  him  popularity  and  applause  in  the  whole  North.  And  yet 
when  he  was  elected  President  in  1860  few  people  had  any  idea 
of  his  strength.  It  was  thought  even  by  many  Republicans 
that  he  was  scarcely  fit  to  carry  the  load  in  such  a  crisis.  No 
one  could  know  his  full  greatness,  for  it  required  the  awful  trials 
of  four  years  of  war,  the  woe  and  anxiety  such  as  few  men  in  the 
world's  history  have  ever  tried  to  bear,  to  bring  out  the  wisdom, 
judgment,  and  profundity  of  his  mind  and  the  sweetness  and 
lovableness  of  his  character. 

Lincoln  made  up  his  Cabinet  from  the  leaders  of  his  party, 
not  shrinking  from  the  task  of  guiding  them.     Seward  was  made 
Secretary  of  State;  Chase,  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 


'  ury;.Simon  Cameron,  Secretary  of  War.     His  in 


and 

augural  address  was  a  masterpiece.     He  did  not 

unduly  threaten  the  Confederate  States,  but  he  solemnly 
warned  them  to  consider  the  consequences  of  their  conflict.  He 
left  no  doubt  in  any  one's  mind  about  what  he  held  to  be  his 
duty:  "To  the  extent  of  my  ability  I  shall  take  care  .  .  .  that 
the  laws  of  the  Union  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the  States. 
...  I  trust  this  will  not  be  considered  as  a  menace,  but  only 
as  the  declared  purpose  of  the  Union,  that  it  will  constitutionally 
defend  and  maintain  itself". 

Soon  after  his  inauguration  Lincoln  began  to  consider  what 
should  be  done  about  Fort  Sumter.  There  was  great  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  what  should  be  done.  Most  of 
the  Cabinet  hesitated  at  first  to  take  any  step  that 
might  bring  on  war,  but  the  final  feeling  was  well  expressed 
in  the  words  of  Chase:  "If  war  is  to  be  the  result,  I  see 
no  reason  why  it  may  not  be  best  begun  in  consequence  of  mili 
tary  resistance  to  the  efforts  of  the  administration  to  sustain 
troops  of  the  Union,  stationed  under  the  authority  of  the  Gov 
ernment,  in  a  fort  of  the  Union,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  service". 
A  fleet  was  consequently  ordered  to  carry  relief  to  the  fort.  Be 
fore  it  arrived,  however,  General  Beauregard,  the  leader  of  the 
Confederate  forces,  summoned  Major  Anderson,  who  was  in  com 
mand  of  Sumter,  to  surrender.  Anderson  refused,  and  the  batteries 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865 


387 


The  war  is 
begun. 


opened  on  the  fort  April  12,  1861.  The  bombardment  lasted 
thirty-four  hours,  and  then  Anderson  surrendered  the  position. 
He  saluted  his  flag  with 
fifty  guns,  and  marched 
out  "with  colors  flying 
and  drums  beating,  bring 
ing  away  company  and 
private  property". 

The  firing  on  Sumter 
aroused     the    North     to 
the    highest 
pitch  of  ex- 
citement. 

Among  the  great  mass  of 
citizens  there  were  no 
longer  discussions  of  con 
stitutional  or  legal  rights. 
The  flag  of  the  nation  had  been  fired  upon,  and  that  was 
enough.  The  President  called  for  volunteers  to  suppress 
the  insurrection,  and  the  people  answered  with  promptness; 
"as  if  by  magic,  the  peaceful  North  became  one  vast 
camp".  Washington,  surrounded  by  slaveholding  States,  was 
in  peril,  and  troops  were  hastened  to  its  defense.  The  first 
blood  of  the  war  was  shed  in  Baltimore,  where  a  mob  resisted 
the  passage  of  the  Northern  regiments.  The  city,  however,  was 
soon  forcibly  occupied  and  compelled  to  keep  the  peace.  Mary 
land  was  kept  from  joining  the  Confederacy.  Washington  was 
garrisoned  and  defended — it  remained  in  effect  a  walled  town 
for  the  next  four  years. 

South  Carolina,  Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama,  v  Georgia, 
Louisiana,  Texas,  had  passed  ordinances  of  secession  before  the 
firing  on  Sumter.  Arkansas  joined  the  Confed 
eracy  May  6,  and  North  Carolina  May  20.  Vir 
ginia  and  Tennessee  took  the  same  step  somewhat 
later.  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  though  containing 
strong  slaveholding  elements  and  sympathizing  with  the  South, 
did  not  join  the  Confederacy. 


The 
Confederacy. 


388  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Neither  section  was  prepared  for  war, — the  North  perhaps 
even  less  than  the  South;  for  Northern  people,  though  fear 
ing  open  conflict,  had  almost  to  the  end  talked 
about  Southern  "bluster"  and  believed  that  all 
the  trouble  would  blow  over.  An  immense  army 
had  to  be  raised  and  furnished  with  munitions  of  war.  The 
North  was  strong,  for  it  was  built  on  free  labor  and  had  far 
outstripped  the  South  in  industry  and  wealth.  The  South 
was  strong  in  desperate  valor,  for  the  people  believed  that  the 
Northern  army  was  a  foreign  invader;  a  long  resistance  could 
be  made,  for  the  men  were  fighting  for  their  hearthstones.  But 
the  North  must  finally  win,  if  the  struggle  went  on,  for  its  re 
sources  were  varied  and  practically  unlimited.  It  was  really 
a  contest  between  the  powers  of  modern  civilization  on  the  one 
hand,  and,  on  the  other,  the  weakness  of  a  people  whose  industry 
was  founded  on  slave  labor,  but  who  were  supported  by  a  mag 
nificent  and  never-failing  courage. 

The  North  appreciated  the  weakness  of  the  South;  indeed, 
believed  that  it  was  weaker  and  less  in  earnest  than  it  was. 
The  blockade  Neither  section,  in  fact,  recognized  fully  the 
physical  strength  and  intense  moral  earnestness 
of  the  other.  It  was  decided  very  early  in  the  war  to  crush 
out  the  "rebellion",  and  this  aim,  though  difficult  to  carry  out, 
was  not  abandoned.  The  main  instrument  in  this  crushing 
process,  or  the  "Anaconda"  system,  was  the  navy,  which 
was  soon  employed  in  establishing  an  immense  commercial 
blockade.  The  enormous  task  of  preventing  any  vessel  from 
entering  or  leaving  a  Southern  port  was  undertaken.  Before 
long  the  ports  from  Chesapeake  Bay  to  Calves  ton  were 
guarded  by  ships  of  the  United  States  navy. 

The  natural  line  of  defense  of  the  South  was  the  Ohio  and 
the  Potomac;  but  as  neither  Maryland  nor  Kentucky  joined  the 
Confederacy,  the  Confederates  were  compelled  to 
ta^e  UP  a  ^me  °f  defense  considerably  south  of 
these  rivers  both  in  the  East  and  in  the  West. 
The  attitude  of  the  Confederate  armies  was  principally  one  of 
defense,  and  of  the  Federals  one  of  attack.  It  is  necessary  to 


DODO 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR—  1861-1865  389 

keep  these  salient  facts  in  mind.  The  defensive  attitude  of  the 
Southern  armies  gave  them  great  military  advantage. 

The  mountains,  running  in  a  southwesterly  direction  from 
near  the  source  of  the  Potomac,  divided  the  field  of  war  into  two 
natural  divisions.  In  the  East  the  main  purpose  of  the  Northern 
army  was  to  reach  the  political  center  of  the  Confederacy,  Rich 
mond.  There  were  two  natural  methods  of  approach  :  one  over 
land,  almost  straight  southward  from  Washington;  in  this  course 
the  invading  force  would  be  endangered  and  retarded  by  forests, 
through  which  the  roads  were  often  poor,  and  by  streams,  which 
were  sometimes  swollen  by  rains  and  difficult  of  passage;  the 
other  method  of  approach  was  by  way  of  the  sea  to  the  penin 
sula  between  the  York  and  the  James  Rivers,  and  thence  up  the 
peninsula  to  Richmond.  Each  method  presented  difficulties. 
In  the  West  the  first  great  purpose  was  to  get  possession  of  the 
Mississippi,  which  divided  the  western  part  of  the  Confederacy 
in  two.  Here  Vicksburg,  strongly  fortified  by  nature  and  art, 
was  a  strategic  position  of  immense  importance.  The  rivers  in 
the  West,  large  and  navigable,  would  serve  as  roads  by  which  to 
pierce  the  enemy's  country.  An  examination  of  the  map  will 
make  it  apparent,1  too,  that  Chattanooga,  holding,  as  it  were, 
the  gateway  between  Tennessee  and  the  Southeast,  was  likely 
to  be  a  center  of  conflict,  for,  if  the  Union  forces  succeeded  in 
getting  possession  of  eastern  Tennessee,  a  great  contest  would 
ensue  at  this  point,  which  was  doubly  important,  because 
from  it  one  railroad  ran  northeast  to  Richmond,  another  south 
eastward  to  the  sea. 

Looking  a  little  more  closely  at  the  first  Southern  line  of 

defense,  we  find  in  the  West  the  following  important  posts: 

Columbus,  New  Madrid,  and  Island  No.  10  on  the 

position!*  Mississippi,  Fort  Henry  on  the  Tennessee,  and  Fort 

Donelson  on  the  Cumberland.     In  the  East  we 

find  first  that  the  western  portion  of  Virginia  was  of  great  value 

to  either  party.     The  eastern  part  of  the  State  was  more  fully 

protected  by  the  Confederate  troops,  who  had  taken  up  a  posi- 


1  See  map,  p. 


390  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

tion  south  of  Washington.  The  cry  at  the  South  was  "On  to 
Washington"!  the  North  answered  "On  to  Richmond"! 

The  Confederates  were  beaten  in  two  .battles  in  western  Vir 
ginia,  and  this  secured  to  the  North  control  of  that  portion  of 
West  vir  inia  ^e  country.  The  people  there  were  not  generally 
slaveholders  and  had  little  sympathy  with  seces 
sion.  They  therefore  formed  a  separate  State  and  came  into  the 
Union  as  West  Virginia.  The  movement  was  begun  early,  but 
it  was  June,  1863,  before  the  State  was  admitted  to  the  Union. 

The  people  at  the  North,  not  realizing  what  war  meant,  and 
believing  that  all  would  be  over  in  a  few  months,  clamored  for 
activity.  They  did  not  appreciate  that  the  troops 
Jot?  ai,  1861.  were  raw  and  undisciplined,  but  they  demanded 
immediate  victory.  General  McDowell,  who  com 
manded  the  army  in  the  field  in  front  of  Washington,  set  out 
with  an  army  of  about  thirty  thousand  men  to  attack  the  Con 
federates,  who  were  commanded  by  Beauregard  and  Joseph  E. 
Johnston.  The  two  armies  met  near  Bull  Run  Creek,  not  far 
from  Manassas  Junction,  about  twenty-five  miles  southwest  of 
Washington.  The  arrangements  of  the  battle  were  well  planned ; 
but  the  Federal  troops  were  not  under  proper  control,  and  the 
subordinate  generals  were  not  well  trained.  For  some  time  the 
men  fought  with  quite  remarkable  vigor  and  courage;  but  at 
length  re-enforcements  for  the  Confederates  appeared  on  the 
field  and  began  a  flank  attack.  The  National  forces  then  began 
a  retreat,  which  "soon  became  a  rout,  and  this  presently  de 
generated  into  a  panic".  Many  are  said  not  to  have  stopped 
fleeing  until  they  reached  Washington.  But  the  Confederate 
forces  were  in  no  condition  for  pursuit.  The  victory  was  almost 
as  demoralizing  to  them  as  defeat  to  the  Federals. 

The  battle  of  Bull  Run  depressed  the  North,  but  it  brought 
home  to  the  people  some  conception  of  what  it  meant  to 
maintain  the  Union.  Horace  Greeley  wrote  to 
bStte!8  °f  thC  Lincoln  a  letter,  which  illustrates  the  depression  at 
the  North.  It  begins  with  the  words,  "This  is  my 
seventh  sleepless  night";  it  ends,  "Yours  in  the  depths  of  bit 
terness".  It  was  no  holiday  campaign  that  was  needed.  Lovers 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865 


391 


of  the  Union  quieted  down  into  stern  determination  to  fight 
steadily  for  the  laws,  and  the  effect  of  the  defeat  was  good.   The 


m 


/>' 


%.Harrisbm-{ 


V      0 


THE  WAR  IN  THE  EAST 

elated  South  believed  more  strongly  than  ever  that  the  South 
could  not  be  conquered. 

After  this  battle  it  was  evident  that  the  soldiers  needed  drill 
ing  and  the  army  needed  organization  before  success  on  the 
field  of  battle  was  possible.  General  McClellan,  who  had  won 
some  success  in  western  Virginia,  was  summoned  to  take 
command  of  the  troops  in  front  of  Washington.  In  November 


392  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

General  Scott  was  put  upon  the  retired  list,  and  McClellan 
succeeded  him  in  general  charge  of  the  armies  of  the  United 
States.     Under  their  new  commander  the  troops, 
which  were   being   daily  increased  with   new  re 


cruits,  were  organized  into  the  Grand  Army  of 
the  Potomac;  but  for  months  there  was  no  movement.  The 
anxious  Northern  householder,  growing  again  impatient,  read 
each  day  in  his  newspaper:  "All  quiet  on  the  Potomac". 

Hardly  was  the  war  begun  when  England  issued  a  "procla 
mation  of  neutrality".  This  acknowledged  the  belligerency  of 
the  Confederacy.  The  theory  of  the  United 
befflgerency  States  Government  was  that  there  was  in  reality 
acknowledged,  no  war,  but  only  an  insurrection.  The  people 
therefore  felt  that  Great  Britain  acted  hastily  in 
acknowledging  that  the  South  was  a  belligerent  power.1  The 
North  had  hoped  for  the  sympathy  of  the  English  in  a  contest 
manifestly  in  the  interest  of  freedom;  and  when  England  so 
quickly  issued  this  proclamation  there  was  considerable 
resentment.  France  soon  took  the  same  step,  and  other  states 
followed. 

The  South,  on  the  other  hand,  believed  that  the  European 
states  would  not  suffer  the  supply  of  cotton  to  be  cut  off,  and 
that  England  especially  would  be  forced  to  recog- 
The  South  nize  the  Confederacy  as  an  independent  power, 
break  up  the  blockade,  and  possibly  directly  join 
in  the  contest  in  order  to  obtain  cotton  for  her 
mills,  so  that  her  starving  operatives  might  have  work.  This 
never  came  about,  however.  Had  the  South  been  fighting 
for  home  rule  alone,  and  not  for  slavery,  the  European  states 
would  have  been  under  stronger  temptation  to  acknowledge  the 
Confederacy  as  a  separate  nation. 

1  Such  a  proclamation  does  not  acknowledge  that  those  engaged  in  a 
rebellion  have  really  formed  a  new  stale  in  the  family  of  nations,  but  it 
declares  that  war  exists  between  two  parties.  Now  the  United 
States  Government  at  this  time  was  not  willing  to  admit  that  this 
"  rebellion"  was  a  war;  they  wished  the  "rebels"  to  be  considered  merely 
as  insurgents. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865 


393 


In  the  West,  during  the  summer  of  1861,  not  much  was  ac 
complished  in  the  way  of  offensive  warfare.     In  Missouri  there 
was  some  sharp  fighting.     A  large  element  of  the 
Isex.*1'  eSt'       Pe°Ple  of  that  State  sympathized  with  the  seces 
sion  movement,  and  for  some  time  the  State  was 
given  up  to  internal  conflict.    A  convention  finally  voted  for 


.     ,  ,  N       .   .    )MIS<£/S,SIPP 

llpiil 
mjjmJM^^1 


FIELD  OF  THE  WESTERN  CAMPAIGNS  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

the  Union  by  a  large  majority,  and  the  Federal  forces 
brought  the  State  under  their  control.  Kentucky  endeavored 
at  first  to  hold  a  neutral  position,  siding  neither 

with  the  North  nor  the  South>  but  by  the  in- 
finite    tact   and   patience   of   Lincoln,    who   en 
couraged  and  guided  the  strong  element  in  the  State  which 
was  opposed  to  secession,  that   State  also  was  saved  to  the 
Union. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  1861,  with  Kentucky  now  committed 
to  the  Union,  the  time  had  come  for  an  onward  march  of  Federal 


394  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN.  NATION 

troops  in  the  West  and,  as  we  shall  see,  in  the  course  of  the 

next  year  rapid  progress  was  made.    A  glance  at  the  map  will 

show  what  an  advantage  the  rivers  were  to  the 

conditio,         ie  Northern  forces  in  their  invasion  of  tne  Southwest 

ern  States.  Troops  could  be  conveyed  up  and  down 
these  rivers  easily  and  rapidly,  or  their  supplies  could  be  quickly 
provided.1  Seeing  this  advantage,  the  National  Government 
made  great  efforts  to  fit  out  boats  that  would  be  of  service  on 
these  Western  waters.  This  gunboat  service  in  the  West 
formed  a  very  important  factor  in  the  movement  of  armies  and 
in  the  conquest  of  the  country. 

The  Congress  elected  in  1860  was  summoned  to  meet  in  extra 
session  on  the  4th  of  July,  1861.     The  Republicans  controlled 

the  House  and  Senate.     The  Democrats  joined  in 

Political  affairs.  J 

necessary  war  legislation.  Before  the  gathering 
of  Congress  the  President  had,  of  his  own  accord,  declared  the 
suspension  of  the  privilege  of  habeas  corpus  within  the  vicinity 
of  Baltimore,  and  had  done  a  great  many  acts  made  necessary 
by  the  emergency.  His  actions  were  now  ratified  by  Congress. 

These  acts  were  principally  the  first  call  for  mil- 
685  itia>  establishment  of  the  blockade,  the  call  for 


three-year  volunteers,  the  increase  of  the  regular 
army  and  navy,  and  the  suspension  of  the  privilege  of  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus?  The  President  recommended  in  his  first 
message  that  an  army  of  four  hundred  thousand  men  be  raised. 
Congress  passed  a  bill  providing  for  enlistments  of  not  more 
than  five  hundred  thousand  men,  and  authorized  a  loan  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars.  It  increased  the  tariff  duties, 
and  provided  for  a  direct  tax  and  an  income  tax. 


1  Contrast  the  situation  in  the  west  as  far  as  geographical  conditions 
were  concerned  with  that  in  the  east.    Any  good  map  will  do  to  show  the 
main  facts.    See  map,  p.  393. 

2  There  was  little  question  of  the  legality  cf  the  first  two,  and  all,  if 
extra-constitutional,  seemed  necessary  and  desirable.    When  the  privilege 
of  habeas  corpus  is  suspended  a  judge  would  have  no  right  to  issue  the  writ 
and  examine  into  the  legality  of  a  man's  imprisonment;  if  a  person  is  held 
under  the  order  of  the,  executive  officers  of  the  nation  that  is  enough. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865  395 

By  this  time  Lincoln  had  shown  his  master  hand  as  a  popu- 
lar  leader.    Whatever  he  said  came  to  the  people  of  the  North 
as  sound  sense.     He  addressed  in  simple,  straight- 
power!15  forward  language  "the  plain  people"  and  he  soon 
obtained  their  unwavering  support.     In  strictly 
executive  matters,  too,  he  was  the  guiding  spirit  of  the  admin 
istration,  not  yielding  his  judgment  to  the  wise  men  who  made 
up  his  Cabinet.     "The  President  is  the  best  of  us",   wrote 
Seward  candidly. 

We  should  notice  at  this  juncture  how  the  Northern  men 
were  now  united,  irrespective  of  parties.  The  Government  was 
in  the  hands  of  the  Republicans,  but  on  the  motion  offered  in 
the  House  by  a  Democrat  that  the  House  should  pledge  itself 
"to  vote  for  any  amount  of  money  and  any  number  of  men 
which  may  be  necessary  to  insure  a  speedy  and  effectual  sup 
pression  of  the  rebellion",  there  were  only  four  votes  in  opposi 
tion.  In  January  of  1862,  Edwin  M.  Stan  ton,  who  had  been 
a  lifelong  Democrat,  was  made  Secretary  of  War,  in  place  of 
Simon  Cameron.  There  were,  it  must  be  said,  throughout  the 
war  some  persons  at  the  North,  known  as  Copperheads,  who 
were  in  secret  sympathy  with  the  South,  or  at  the  best  out  of 
sympathy  with  the  North;  but  the  great  body  of  the  people, 
whatever  may  have  been  their  earlier  political  leanings,  were 
now  heartily  for  the  Union. 

In  the  autumn  of  1861  serious  discord  and  ill  feeling  were 
brought  about  between  England  and  America  by  an  affair  in  it 
self  comparatively  trivial.  The  Confederate  Gov- 
ernment,  intent  on  getting  full  recognition  from 
foreign  states,  dispatched  two  commissioners,  the 
one  to  England,  the  other  to  France.  Conveyed  by  an  English 
ship,  the  Trent,  they  were  intercepted  by  an  American  man-of- 
war,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Wilkes,  and  were  taken 
into  custody.  The  English  Government  demanded  the  imme 
diate  release  of  the  commissioners  and  a  suitable  apology,  and 
began  preparations  for  war.  Our  Government  took  time  for 
consideration,  and  then  gave  up  the  men.  Here  doubtless  Eng 
land  was  right.  Our  man-of-war  had  no  right  to  stop  an  Eng- 


396  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

lish  vessel  on  the  high  seas  and  take  passengers  from  her.  But 
the  abruptness  of  the  demand  for  reparation  and  the  haste 
shown  in  preparing  for  war  irritated  the  American  people,  al 
ready  annoyed  by  the  attitude  that  England  had  taken  toward 
the  South.  Our  Government,  by  a  courteous  yielding,  was 
saved  a  war  which  would  have  perhaps  been  overwhelmingly 
disastrous  while  the  Civil  War  was  in  progress.1 

At  the  beginning  of  1862  the  Union  army  was  large,  and,  on 
the  whole,  well  disciplined  and  equipped.  There  were  over  six 

hundred  thousand  soldiers  in  the  whole  army. 
?862nmng  °f  The  western  army,  which  had  not  done  much  the 

previous  year  because  of  the  general  situation  in 
Kentucky  and  for  other  reasons,  now  moved  forward  preparing 
to  attack  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  the  former  on  the  Tennes 
see,  the  latter  on  the  Cumberland  River.  If  these  were  taken 

the  Confederate  line  would  be  broken  in  the  cen- 
8' ter-     Commodore  Foote,  with  several  gunboats, 

carried  up  the  Tennessee  an  army  of  seventeen 

1  Probably  the  people  of  England  have  never  known  how  deeply  the  North 
ern  people  were  hurt,  at  the  lack  of  sympathy  and  of  expression  of  friendly 
feeling  from  England.  The  Northerners  felt  that  theirs  was  a  holy  cause 
and  that  free  people  everywhere  should  sympathize.  I  do  not  mean  to  say 
that  the  Southerners  did  not  also  feel  that  they  had  a  holy  cause;  they  did 
think  so.  But  in  speaking  of  Northern  sentiment  during  the  war,  annoy 
ance  and  disappointment  at  English  coldness  cannot  be  omitted.  And  yet 
the  common  people  of  England,  on  the  whole,  did  side  with  the  North. 

England  was  sorely  pressed  for  want  of  cotton.  The  situation  is  humor 
ously  expressed  in  a  few  lines  from  "Punch." 

"Though  with  the  North  we  sympathize, 

It  must  not  be  forgotten, 
That  with  the  South  we've  stronger  ties 

Which  are  composed  of  cotton; 
Whereof  our  imports  mount  unto 

A  sum  of  many  figures; 
And  where  would  be  our  calico, 

Without  the  toil  of  niggers? 


Thus  a  divided  duty  we 

Perceive  in  this  hard  matter. 

Free-trade,  or  sable  brothers  free? 
Oh,  won't  we  choose  the  latter"! 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1866  397 

thousand  men,  under  command  of  General  Grant.    The  army 
was  landed  and  the  boats  engaged  the  batteries  of  Fort  Henry. 


but  protracted  engagement  was  unnecessary,  inasmuch  as  most 
of  the  Confederate  force  had  been  withdrawn  to  Fort  Donelson, 


398  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

which  was  only  eleven  miles  distant.  Grant  now  marched  his 
army  to  the  Cumberland,  and  with  reenforcement  and  the  aid 
of  the  gunboats,  which  made  their  way  around  to  assist  him,  he 
held  Fort  Donelson  in  his  grasp.  Beating  back  the  garrison, 
which  tried  to  break  through  the  Union  lines,  the  army  assaulted 
the  works;  part  of  the  works  were  carried,  the  fort  surrendered 
and  over  fifteen  thousand  prisoners  were  taken.  The  main  line 
of  .the  Confederate  defence  was  broken.  These  victories  greatly 
encouraged  the  North,  and  the  Union  army  moved  on  to  Nash 
ville.  New  Madrid  and  Island  No.  10,  strongly  held  by  the 
Confederates  as  advanced  posts  on  the  Mississippi  River,  were 
next  attacked  and  taken  by  Commodore  Foote  and  General 
Pope;  and  thus  the  great  river  was  opened  nearly  as  far  south 
as  Memphis. 

After  Grant's  victory  at  Donelson  the  Confederates  had 
gathered  in  force  at  Corinth  in  Northern  Mississippi. 
This  place  was  now  a  strong  position  in  their 
new  ^ne  °^  defense  which  ran  along  the  Mem 
phis  and  Charleston  Railroad,  from  Memphis 
through  Corinth  to  Chattanooga.  Grant  prepared  to  break 
this  new  line.  The  main  body  of  his  army,  some  forty  thousand 
men,  was  at  Pittsburg  Landing  on  the  Tennessee,  while  General 
Buell  was  marching  across  the  country  from  Nashville  to  co 
operate  with  him.  Then  occurred  the  fearful 

April!  i8f62Shil0h'bloody  battle  of  Shiloh  or  Pittsburg  Landing. 
The  Confederates  fiercely  attacked  the  Union  line, 
and  at  the  end  of  the  first  day,  fighting  magnificently,  had  driven 
Grant's  forces  back  about  a  mile  from  the  position  occupied  in 
the  morning.  Though  the  situation  was  critical  and  dangerous, 
Grant  was  not  discouraged,  and  when  Buell's  army  arrived,  as 
it  did  during  the  night,  the  tables  were  turned,  and  the  Con 
federates  were  driven  from  the  field.1 

1  Grant  always  strenuously  maintained  that  even  had  Buell  not  arrived 
he  could  have  won  the  victory  on  the  morrow.  Certainly  the  Union  forces 
were  not  thoroughly  beaten  on  the  first  day,  but  reinforcements  made 
success  a  certainty. 

This  was  one  of  the  fierce,  bloody  and  awful  battles  of  the  War, — the 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865  399 

The  Federal  army  then  took  Corinth.  Thus  the  second 
chief  line  of  the  Confederate  defense  in  the  West  was  broken. 

Next  Memphis  fell,  and  the  Mississippi  was  free 

to  ^e  Union  gunboats  as  far  south  as  Vicksburg. 

There  were  other  battles  in  the  west  that  summer 
(1862),  and  thousands  of  lives  were  lost,  the  most  important 
battle  being  that  of  Murfreesboro  or  Stone  River,  where  the 
Union  forces  under  Rosecrans  were  successful.  Toward  the  end 
of  the  year,  Grant  moved  south  £rom  Corinth  toward  Vicksburg, 
while  Rosecrans  faced  the  Confederate  army  under  General 
Bragg  which  held  Chattanooga,  a  strategic  position  of  prime 
importance.1 

Early  in  the  year  1862,  occurred  the  first  battle  ever  fought 
between  iron-clad  ships.  The  Confederates  had  taken  the  hulk 

of  an  old  vessel,  cut  it  down  and  covered  it  with  an 
Monitor  and  jron  coating,  thus  converting  it  into  a  floating  bat- 

Merrimac,  f '       .  .    .  ,  .    c        ...  c 

March,  1862.  ter7  niost  formidable  to  the  ordinary  wooden  ves 
sels  which  made  up  the  Northern  navy.  Early 
in  March  this  strange  monster  appeared,  attacked  the  frigates, 
Congress  and  Cumberland,  at  the  mouth  of  the  James  River, 
and  destroyed  them  without  difficulty.  The  success  of  the 
blockade  was  endangered  and  there  was  great  consternation.  It 
was  feared  that  the  Merrimac  might  bombard  Washington,  and 
even  sail  to  Philadelphia  or  New  York.  But  now  a  new  and 

first  of  the  really  great  ones.  The  loss  of  the  two  armies  was  very  large, 
the  Union  army  losing  some  13,000  men  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing. 
"Missing",  that  dreadful  word,  read  by  anxious  fathers  and  mothers  in 
the  morning  newspapers,  telling  nothing,  but  leaving  uncertainty,  fear, 
hope,  and  woe  behind  it. 

1  The  pupil  can  easily  follow  the  main  strategy  of  the  western  campaign 
by  tracing  out  the  lines  of  advance  on  the  map.  (i)  Grant  moves  south 
from  Henry  and  Donelson,  is  attacked  at  Shiloh;  moves  on  to  Corinth,  is 
attacked  there  again  in  September  and  October  (battles  not  mentioned  in 
the  text  above),  and  finally  presses  on  against  Vicksburg.  (2)  Meanwhile, 
by  operations  down  the  river,  Memphis  is  taken,  and  the  gunboats  begin 
to  get  ready  to  help  Grant  at  Vicksburg.  (3)  Again  in  the  eastern  part  of 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  there  were  conflicts  resulting  on  the  whole  in 
Union  success,  so  that  at  the  end  of  the  year  the  Confederates  were  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Chattanooga  and  barred  further  Union  advance. 


400  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

strange  craft  appeared  upon  the  scene.  Northern  ingenuity 
had  produced  an  antagonist  quite  a  match  for  the  Merrimac. 
The  Monitor  was  seemingly  a  mere  platform,  with  a  movable 
turret  pierced  for  two  guns.  Between  the  two  iron  vessels  a 
conflict  ensued  in  Hampton  Roads.  The  shot  and  shell  that 
were  poured  against  the  Monitor's  turret  and  deck  glanced 
harmlessly  aside.  The  Merrimac  was  not  destroyed,  but  after 
a  fight  of  several  hours  it  withdrew  to  Norfolk,  its  victorious 
career  at  an  end. 

The  control  of  the  whole  course  of  the  Mississippi  was  of 
great  importance.  In  the  spring  of  1862  a  powerful  fleet  was 
fitteo^out  to  attack  New  Orleans  from  the  Gulf. 
To  capture  the  place  was  a  difficult  task,  for  it  was 
defended  by  strong  forts  and  by  a  number  of  ships 
of  war.  The  command  of  the  expedition  against  it  was  given 
to  David  G.  Farragut.  In  April  the  fleet  began  the  bombard 
ment  of  the  forts.  Six  days  and  nights  without  intermission 
shells  were  thrown  from  huge  mortars  into  the  defenses,  but  they 
did  not  succeed  in  destroying  the  works  or  driving  the  garrison 
out.  Farragut  then  planned  to  run  by  the  forts,  attack  the  fleet 
above  them,  proceed  up  the  river,  and  take  the  city.  This  he 
did,  and  New  Orleans  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Federal 
forces,  April,  I862.1 

Leaving  the  scene  of  war  in  the  West,  where  the  Union  forces 
had  pushed  on  till  they  threatened  Vicksburg  on  the  Mississippi 
and  Chattanooga  on  the  edge  of  the  mountains, 
*et  us  now  turn  to  tne  East.  All  through  the  au 
tumn  and  winter  of  1861-2  the  army  of  the  Po 
tomac  lay  in  quietness.2  In  the  spring  McClellan  decided  to 

*We  could  name  many  men  of  noble  character,  unflinching  courage, 
and  high  capacity,  who  served  on  one  side  or  the  other  during  the  war. 
But  from  the  list  we  could  certainly  not  exclude  Farragut  and  General 
George  H.  Thomas — and  both  of  them,  though  fighting  for  the  Union, 
were  Southerners,  and  neither  need  scarcely  suffer  in  comparison  (and  here 
comparisons  are  odious)  of  ability  or  character  with  the  capable,  big-minded, 
wide-hearted  Lee  himself. 

2  Battle  of  Ball's  Bluff,  a  serious  defeat  for  the  Union  forces,  occurred 
in  October;  but  only  a  small  force  was  engaged. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865 


401 


transfer  his  forces  to  the  peninsula  between  the  James  River 
and  the  York.  He  moved  leisurely  up  the  peninsula,  hindered 
somewhat  by  the  enemy,  and  especially  balked  by  a  daring  of 
fensive  move  made  by  "Stonewall  Jackson"  down  the  Shenan- 
doah  Valley  toward  Washington.  This  valley  was  peculiarly 
advantageous  ground  for  Southern  forces.  It  furnished  a  safe 

avenue  for  raids  into  Maryland 
or    feints    against    Washington. 
If  the  Union  forces  pursued,  they 
were    led    constantly    away 
from  Richmond. 

McClellan  with  a  mag 
nificent  army, 
pushing  slowly 
up  the  penin 
sula,  was  daily 
creeping  nearer 
the  Confeder 
ate  capital. 
He  was  nearly 
beaten  at  Fair 

THE  PENINSULA  CAMPAIGN  Oaks5   but   bY 

the  end  of  June 

he  was  encamped  within  four  miles  of  the  city,  and  his  out 
posts  thought  they  could  hear  the  sound  of  church  bells  in  Rich 
mond.  The  time  was  yet  far  distant,  however,  when  Union 
soldiers  would  listen  to  sermons  or  roll  themselves  in  their 
blankets  and  go  to  sleep  in  the  old  church  buil'dings  of  the  South 
ern  city. 

Robert  E.  Lee  now  took  command  of  the  Confederate  army 
and  showed  at  once  marked  military  capacity.  Pretending  to 
send  forces  to  the  Shenandoah  Valley  to  reenforce  Jackson,  he 
actually  summoned  Jackson  back  to  Richmond.  Then  with  a 
united  army  he  furiously  attacked  the  long  line  of  the 
National  troops,  and  the  Seven  Days'  Battles  began;  on 
the  one  side  a  powerful  and  brave  Union  army,  ably  led; 
on  the  other,  a  courageous  host  led  by  a  man  of  genius. 
27 


402 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


McClellan   handled   his   big  army  with  some  skill;    but   he 

was  no   match   for  Lee.     And  yet    the    Union    Army    was 

not   really  routed; 

Seven  Days'          tney        stubbornly 
Fight,  June  26  .J     . 

to  July  2, 1862.  maintained  them 
selves  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Richmond, 
but  success  seemed  far  away 
and  in  August  the  North 
ern  general  skillfully  retreated 
toward  Fortress  Monroe.  The 
peninsula  campaign  was  a 
failure.1 

General  Halleck,  who,  be 
cause  of  the  rare  efficiency  of 
his  subordinates,  had  won  vic 
tories  in  the  west,  was  put  in 
general  charge  of  the  armies. 
About  the  same  time  an  army 
was  placed  under  the  com 
mand  of  Pope,  with  the  intention  of  operating  in  northern 
Virginia.  In  short,  the  administration  in  Washington,  bit 
terly  disappointed  by  McClellan's  failure,  decided  to  give 
up  the  peninsula  campaign  entirely  and  to  send  troops 
Second  Battle  soutnward  from  Washington.  With  this  plan  in 
of  Bull  Run,  mind,  Pope  marched  to  attack  Lee,  only  to 
August  29, 30,  meet  with  sudden  and  complete  disaster,  for 
Lee,  ably  seconded  by  Stonewall  Jackson 
thoroughly  outwitted  the  Union  commander  and  then,  on 
the  old  battlefield  of  Bull  Run,  almost  overwhelmed  the  North 
ern  army. 


1  McClellan  was  always  complaining.  He  always  thought  the  enemy's 
troops  more  numerous  than  they  were.  He  always  complained  because  he 
didn't  have  shoes,  or  horses,  or  guns,  or  something.  He  failed  too  in  the 
great  test  of  generalship,  getting  the  whole  army  into  action  and  hitting 
hard  at  a  critical  moment;  and  yet  his  soldiers  worshiped  him.  "Little 
Mac"  was  almost  an  idol. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865  403 

McClellan  was  again  put  in  full  command  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  including  the  troops  that  Pope  had  commanded. 

He  prepared  to  meet  Lee,  who  had  determined 
Maryland68  upon  an  invasion  of  Maryland.  The  situation 

was  now  exactly  the  opposite  from  what  it  had 
been  a  few  months  before.  In  June  the  Union  forces  were  with 
in  sound  of  the  church  bells  of  Richmond;  in  September  they 
were  manceuvering  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  their  own  capi 
tal  to  guard  it  from  a  Confederate  attack.  Lee  marched  north 
ward  across  the  Potomac  into  Maryland.  Jackson,  under  his 
direction,  bombarded  Harper's  Ferry  and  easily  took  the  posi 
tion  with  over  eleven  thousand  men,  who  ought  to  have  been 

either  removed  or  properly  re-inforced.  Then  oc- 
Antietam,  curred  the  battle  of  Antietam  between  the  two 

September,  .  .  _  .....       TT    . 

!862.  main  armies,  a  fierce  contest  in  which  the  Union 

forces  lost  twelve  thousand  men  and  more;,  the 
Confederates  nearly  as  many.  The  invasion  of  Maryland 
was  a  failure,  and  Lee  retreated  across  the  Potomac.  McClel 
lan,  perhaps  necessarily,  allowed  him  to  escape  without  pur 
suit.  The  Union  army  was  soon  led  forward  again  to  the  Rap- 
pahannock.  McClellan  was  then  removed,  and  Burnside  put 
in  his  place. 

Burnside,  knowing  how  much  McClellan  had  been  criticized 
because  he  did  not  fight  with  greater  dash  and  vehemence,  and 
The  horror  of  Pus^  vigorously  on  the  enemy,  determined  to  be 
Fredericksburg,  aggressive.  He  moved  down  the  Rappahannock 
December,  to  Fredcricksburg.  By  this  time  Lee  had  manned 
the  strong  defenses  south  and  west  of  the  town 
with  a  powerful  army,  and  when  the  Union  troops  attacked 
them  the  slaughter  that  ensued  was  horrible.  The  brave  North 
ern  soldiers  were  mowed  down  by  the  thousand,  and  Burnside, 
overcome  with  grief  and  mortification,  withdrew  across  the 
river  with  a  loss  of  thirteen  thousand  men.  Could  nobody 
beat  Lee? 

This  was  the  end  of  a  year  of  dire  disaster  in  the  East. 
There  had  been  a  long  series  of  defeats.  In  the  peninsula  cam 
paign  there  had  been  some  clever  work  and  everywhere 


404          HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

desperate  fighting.  Antietam  was  counted  a  Union  victory, 
and  Lee  had  found  that  he  dared  not  press  farther  north; 

but  after  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run  and  the 
Results  of  terrible  repulse  at  Fredericksburg,  an  invasion 
!862.  of  Virginia  and  a  conquest  of  the  South  seemed 

to  many  a  disheartening  and  impossible  task. 
Despite  the  successes  in  the  west,  the  winter  of  1862-63  was 
a  gloomy  one  in  Northern  households.1 

The  campaign  of  1863  fortunately  brought  new  hope  to  the 
nation;  it  gave  assurance,  in  fact,  that  the  South  would  be 
crushed  if  the  North  would  persevere.  Before  examining  the 
military  events  of  that  year  we  need  to  notice  some  political 
events  that  gave  new  character  and  meaning  to  the  war.  The 
North  had  rushed  to  arms  when  the  flag  was  fired  upon;  the  one 
thought  prevailed,  that  the  Union  must  be  preserved.  But  as 
the  months  went  by  it  was  felt  by  many  that  the  great  curse  of 
slavery,  which  had  estranged  the  South  and  driven  the  two  sec 
tions  apart,  must  be  done  away  with  as  a  result  of  the  war. 

President  Lincoln  hated  slavery,  and  was  anxious  to  see  the 

day  when  the  nation  would  not  be  cursed  with  the  system. 

During  the  first  year  of  the  war,  however,  he  was 

Political  affairs.  .      * 

averse  to  taking  any  step  that  would  make  the 
war  to  all  appearances  a  crusade  against  slavery.    He  knew  that 
there  was  a  strong  sentiment  at  the  North  in  favor  of  immediate 
emancipation,  but  there  was  also  a  strong  race 
slavery?01          prejudice  as  well.     Moreover,  for  a  long  time  feel 
ing  in  the  border  States  must  be  regarded,  and  this 
was,  of  course,  opposed  to  abolition.     It  was  clear  enough  to 
Lincoln  that  slavery  could  be  abolished  only  by  saving  the 


1  A  study  of  the  map  will  show  the  campaign  in  its  main  movements: 
(i)  The  failure  to  take  Richmond  by  the  peninsula  route.  (2)  The  at 
tempt  made  under  Pope  to  move  southward,  and  his  defeat  at  Bull 
Run.  (3)  Lee's  invasion  of  Maryland  and  his  repulse  at  Antietam.  (4) 
Burnsides's  southern  move  and  the  failure  of  his  desperate  attack  at  Fred 
ericksburg.  (5)  The  general  situation  in  the  east  not  very  different  from 
that  before  the  first  Battle  of  Bull  Run. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865  405 

Union,  and  that  this,  morally  and  legally,  was  his  first  duty. 
Were  the  South  victorious  in  the  war,  abolition  would  be 
impossible.  Were  the  North  victorious,  then  there  would 
be  a  chance  for  the  final  extirpation  of  slavery.  So  the 
President  constantly  checked  the  excited  abolition  sentiment, 
and  impressed  on  the  minds  of  all  that  the  Union  must  be 
preserved. 

In  March,  1862,  he  sent  a  special  message  to  Congress  rec 
ommending  the  passage  of  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  "the 
United  States  ought  to  co-operate  with  any  State 
abashment.  which  may  adopt  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery, 
giving  to  such  State  pecuniary  aid,  to  be  used  by 
such  State  in  its  discretion,  to  compensate  for  the  inconvenience, 
both  public  and  private,  produced  by  the  change".  Congress 
passed  a  resolution  of  that  nature.  But  Lincoln  could  not  get 
the  slave  States  that  still  remained  in  the  Union  to  listen  to  him. 
He  showed  their  men  in  Congress  that  slavery  in  the  border 
States  must  before  long  "be  extinguished  by  mere  friction 
and  abrasion — by  the  mere  incidents  of  war";  but  his  plead 
ing  was  in  vain.  Those  States  refused  to  take  advantage  of 
the  National  aid  thus  offered  or  to  take  a  single  step  toward 
emancipation. 

Yet  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  was  growing,  and  the  time 
was  near  at  hand  when  slavery  must  go.  The  enthusiasts 
brought  great  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  President, 
but  he  wisely  and  patiently  bided  his  time.  About 
the  middle  of  the  summer  he  drew  up  a  draft  of  a 
proclamation  for  emancipation.  Shortly  afterward  he  read  it 
to  his  Cabinet.  He  did  not  ask  the  opinions  of  his  secretaries; 
he  simply  announced  his  purpose.  The  measure  was  a  war 
measure,  and  he  intended  to  shoulder  the  whole  responsibility 
as  the  commander-in-chief.  It  is  a  striking  scene  in  history — 
this  plain  and  simple  man,  bred  in  poverty,  reared  in  adversity, 
quietly  declaring  that  he  intends  to  strike  the  shackles  from  four 
million  slaves;  that  he  alone  is  ready  to  do  the  most  momentous 
thing  done  on  the  American  continent  since  the  days  of  the 
Philadelphia  convention. 


406  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

The  publication  of  the  emancipation  proclamation  -was  de 
layed  for  a  time,  because  it  seemed  wise  to  wait  until  the  Union 
forces  had  won  a  victory,  lest  the  proclamation 
"  be  viewed",  as  Seward  said,  "  as  the  last  measure 
of  an  exhausted  Government,  a  cry  for  help". 
After  Lee  was  beaten  back  at  Antietam,  Lincoln  decided  that 
the  time  was  come.  "When  the  rebel  army  was  at  Frederick, 
I  determined,  as  soon  as  it  should  be  driven  out  of  Maryland,  to 
issue  a  proclamation  of  emancipation,  such  as  I  thought  most 
likely  to  be  useful.  I  said  nothing  to  any  one;  but  I  made  a 
promise  to  myself,  and  (hesitating  a  little)  to  my  Maker.  The 
rebel  army  is  now  driven  out,  and  I  am  going  to  fulfill  that 
promise".1 

On  September  22,  therefore,  the  famous  proclamation  was 
issued.  This  was  only  preliminary.  It  warned  the  inhabitants 
of  the  States  in  " rebellion"  that  unless  they  should 
return  to  their  allegiance  before  the  first  day  of 
tion,  1862.  January,  1863,  he  would  declare  their  slaves  free. 
Of  course  this  announcement  had  no  effect  in  bring 
ing  back  the  Southern  people  to  their  allegiance,  and  so,  on  the 
appointed  day,  the  final  proclamation  was  issued.2  The  Presi 
dent  had  no  legal  right  to  emancipate  the  slaves  on  any  other 
theory  than  that  he  was  acting  as  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  and  navy,  and  that  such  action  was  a  legitimate  war 
measure. 

The  results  of  this  proclamation  were  of  great  importance. 
It  made  it  clear  to  the  world  that  the  war  was  not  simply  an 
insurrection,  but  that  slavery  and  freedom  were  pitted  against 
each  other;  therefore  there  was  no  longer  any  fear  of  interven- 

1  These  words  are  given  by  Secretary  Chase  as  the  words  of  Lincoln. 

2  The  proclamation  did  not  free  the  slaves  in  the  States,  which,  though 
holding  slaves,  did  not  secede;  nor  did  it  do  so  in  all  portions  of  the  Con 
federacy,  because  there  were  certain  portions  there  not  in  actual  "armed 
rebellion  ".    Thus  it  was  necessary  later  to  provide  for  complete  emancipa 
tion.    Of  course,  also,  there  might  be  a  question  concerning  the  binding, 
legal  effect  of  the  proclamation.    Notwithstanding  all  this,  the  paper  was 
one  of  the  utmost  significance.    From  now  on  the  war  WAS  openly  against 
slavery  in  the  States,  as  well  as  to  save  the  Union. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR—  1861-1865  407 


0(e*^4v*&^ 


&*&t~Z? 

0 


^feT  <*+»  &,f  tn,  curo***  &&£ 


a, 


LINCOLN'S  DRAFT  OF  THE  EMANCIPATION  PROCLAMATION 


408  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

tion  by  England  or  France.  It  gave  the  Northern  people,  that 
were  intensely  in  earnest  against  slavery,  new  courage  and  zeal. 
Results  ^  course  its  -great  and  lasting  result  was  the 

destruction  of  the  whole  institution;  for,  though 
the  proclamation  covered  not  the  whole  South,  but  only  the 
States  or  the  parts  of  States  where  the  people  were  in  "  rebellion  ", 
the  outcome  of  the  w£r  was  now  sure  to  be  the  complete  extinc 
tion  of  slavery  everywhere  in  the  Union. 

The  preliminary  proclamation  seemed  for  a  time  to  have  a 
bad  effect  at  the  North.  There  was  great  opposition  to  Lincoln 
in  many  quarters;  and  the  elections  in  the  autumn  of  1862  were 
not  so  favorable  to  the  Republicans  as  was  hoped.  There  was 
a  reaction  against  the  President  and  his- policy.  But  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  his  party  in  the  end  gained  strength  and  coherence  by 
this  frank  opposition  to  slavery.  The  war  had  new  meaning, 
and  in  the  next  year  (1863)  the  tide  of  success  turned  strongly 
in  favor  of  the  North.  Lincoln  at  no  time  gave  any  sign  of 
regret  or  showed  any  wish  to  waver.  He  issued  his  final  procla 
mation  on  the  first  of  January,  as  he  had  promised. 

At  the  beginning  of  1863  the  army  in  the  West  under  Rose- 
crans  was  near  Chattanooga.  Vicksburg  and  the  whole  South 
west  were  in  danger,  for  the  Union  army  was  being 
*  pushed  vigorously  forward.  In  the  East,  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  which  had  fought  so  bravely, 
had  few  laurels  to  display.  The  navy  had  shown  its  great  use 
fulness  under  the  command  of  able  and  intrepid  men. 

Early  in  1863  the  Union  Army  under  General  Hooker,  not 
despairing  of  pushing  on  into  Virginia  and  beating  Lee,  tried 
again,  but  at  Chancellorsville  were  once  more  utter- 
ty  routed-  Thereupon  Lee,  as  he  had  done  the 
autumn  before,  again  assumed  the  offensive, 
crossed  the  Potomac,  and  marched  north,  this  time  even  into 
southern  Pennsylvania.  The  opposing  forces  met  at  Gettys 
burg,  and  there  was  fought  one  of  the  most  stubborn  and  bloody 
battles  of  the  century.  Lee's  army,  flushed  with  recent  vic 
tories,  and  confident  of  success,  attacked  the  Union  forces  that 
were  posted-  in  a  strong  position  south  of  the  town,  In  spite  of 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865 


409 


the  desperate  valor  of  the  Confederates,  they  were  unsuccessful. 
Meade,  who  had  taken  Hooker's  place  in  charge  of  the  Northern 
army,  showed  talent  as  a 
commanding  officer,  and 
his  soldiers  fought  with  a 
bravery  and  determination 
that  was  a  match  for  the 
splendid  impetuosity  of  the 
Southerners.  The  Confed 
erates  lost  over  20,000 
men  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing,  and  the  Fed 
eral  army  lost  23,000  out 
of  their  90,000.  The  inva 
sion  of  the  loyal  States  was 
a  failure,  and  Lee  never 
tried  it  again.  Gettysburg, 
with  successes  in  the  West  * 
now  to  be  mentioned,  may 
be  taken  as  the  turning 
point  of  the  Civil  War.  It  may  be  considered,  indeed,  one  of 
the  great  turning  points  in  history.  From  this  moment  the 
Confederacy  languished;  the  end  of  slavery  was  near  at  hand.1 
Meanwhile  Grant  had  determined  that  Vicksburg  must  be 
taken.  Having  made  his  preparations  with  his  customary  care, 
he  beat  General  Pemberton,  who  endeavored  to  check  his  ad 
vance,  and  then  after  trying  in  vain  to  take  the  city  by  assault, 
began  a  regular  siege  of  the  place.  The  town  was  hemmed  in, 
and  starvation  soon  threatened  it.  On  July  4  the  stars  and 

1  The  assault  of  a  southern  force  under  General  Pickett  upon  the  center 
of  the  Union  line  was  the  dramatic  scene  of  the  battle,  one  of  the  most 
dramatic  and  the  most  significant  of  the  war.  It  took  great  courage  to 
move  up  that  long  incline  and  attack  the  very  center  of  the  enemy's  line; 
it  took  great  courage  and  the  Southerners  had  it;  but  the  assault  failed. 
That  moment,  when  Pickett's  men  reached  the  summit  of  Cemetery  Ridge — 
reached  it  only  to  be  beaten  back — is  called  the  high  tide  of  the  Confed 
eracy.  What  would  have  happened,  if  they  had  succeeded?  What  would 
have  happened  if  Lee  had  been  victorious  at  Gettysburg? 


410 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


stripes  floated  over  the  defences  of  Vicks- 
burg.  The  Mississippi  was  open;  "the 
Father  of  Waters  rolled  unvexed  to  the 
sea".  Grant  had  carried  on  a  vigorous, 
daring  and  offensive  campaign.  With  his 
army  well  in  hand  he  had  taken  every 
advantage  of  his  opponents.  Elated  by 
Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg,  the  Northern 
people  took  new  hope;  perhaps  here  was 
a  man,  that  silent  soldier  from  Illinois, 
that  persistent  and  hard  fighter,  who 
could  meet  Lee  even  in  Virginia,  and  win 
a  victory. 

We  left  Rosecrans  facing  Bragg,  who 
had  taken  a  position  not  far  from  Chat 
tanooga  at  the  beginning  of 
Chickamauga,     l86,       After  some  months 

September,  .    *  -         ~ 

I863.  of  manceuvermg,  the   Con 

federates  gave  up  Chatta 
nooga  and  Rosecrans  marched  in.  But 
Bragg  was  not  yet  beaten,  by  any  means, 
for  he  turned  on  the  Union  forces  at 
Chickamauga  and  in  a  great  and  fiercely 
contested  battle  completely  defeated 
them.  Utter  rout  was  saved  by  Thomas, 
who  commanded  the  left.  From  begin 
ning  to  end  his  troops  fought  with  rare 
constancy  and  were  superbly  handled. 
At  the  end  they  were  surrounded  on 
three  sides,  but  Thomas  never  thought  of 
surrender  or  flight.  Bragg  hurled  his 
army  against  the  solid  array  absolutely 
to  no  purpose.  "No  more  splendid 
spectacle  appears  in  the  annals  of  war 
than  this  heroic  stand  of  Thomas  in  the 
midst  of  a  routed  army.  .  .  .  Slowly 
riding  up  and  down  the  lines,  with  un- 


HHA. 

irnuwi, 

Half-put  On*  0*l>Mk., 

VEST     IMPORTANT. 


GLORIOUS      MEWS. 


A    JOEAT    VICTORY 


Terrific    and    Unparal- 


The     Sebeli      Utterly 


Tktrblmt  ud  An  Pnriuid 
the  Union  Form 


The  Terrible  Battle  on 
Friday. 


Official  Despatch  from 
General  Boade. 


Tb«    Aebeli    H-pulwd 
to  E«ry  Attack. 


Donbl.d.r    Korttllj 


Splindld  Conduct  of  tl 
of  Ha  PotMi* 


THE  GREAT  BATTLE. 


FROM  THE  NEW  YORK 
HERALD,  JULY  5,  1863. 

Announcing  the  Result  of  thr 
Battle  of  Gettysburg. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865  411 

ruffled  countenance  and  cheery  word,  it  is  his  own  invincible 
soul  which  inspires  his  men  for  the  work  they  have  to  do".1 
When  he  got  the  opportunity,  Thomas  quietly  withdrew  in  good 
order,  rejoined  the  right  and  center,  which  had  been  driven  from 
the  field,  and  the  Union  army  was  ready  again  for  the  contest. 
It  retained  its  hold  on  Chattanooga,  and  the  Confederate  army 
prepared  to  take  the  place.  The  situation  was  almost  exactly 
the  opposite  from  what  it  had  been  at  the  beginning  of  the 
year. 

Grant  now  took  command  of  the  Army  at  Chattanooga,  and 

with  his  usual  energy  began  at  once  to  operate  against  the  enemy. 

The    Confederates    under    Bragg    were    strongly 

Chattanooga,      posted  in  a  seemingly  impregnable  position  on 

November  f.   .  11  r     i  ^ 

23-25, 1863.  mgn  ground  south  and  east  ot  the  city.  Grant 
gave  Sherman  command  of  the  left,  Thomas  of  the 
center,  and  Hooker  of  the  right.  The  battle  was  marked  by 
brilliant  generalship  and  magnificent  fighting.  Sherman  pushed 
eastward  and  then  south  against  Missionary  Ridge.  Hooker's 
men  fought  the  wonderful  battle  above  the  clouds  on  Lookout 
Mountain,  taking  the  position  and  forcing  back  the  Confeder 
ate  left.  Thomas  was  ordered  the  second  day  to  attack  the 
center.  His  troops  were  eager.  They  seized  the  lower  earth 
works,  and  then,  breaking  away  from  orders,  with  cheer  upon 
cheer  they  charged  up  the  slope  under  murderous  fire  and  on  to 
the  very  mouths  of  the  enemy's  guns.2  They  swept  the  Con 
federates  from  their  works.  The  field  was  won.  One  may  look 
in  history  in  vain  for  anything  more  glorious  in  war,  more  dash 
ing  and  brilliant,  than  the  charge  up  Missionary  Ridge,  Novem 
ber  25,  1863. 


1  Dodge,  Bird's-eye  View  of  the  Civil  War,  p.  181. 

2  "The  slopes  are  hard  to  climb;  strength  and  ardor  are  not  the  same 
In  all  the  assailants.    But  if  the  ways  differ  somewhat,  there  are  seen  no 
laggards  among  them.     The  boldest  of  them  gathered  around  the  flags, 
each  of  which  they  passed  from  hand  to  hand  as  fast  as  one  pays  with  his 
life  for  the  honor  of  holding  it  a  moment".    (History  of  the  Civil  War  in 
America,  by  the  Comte  de  Paris,  vol.  iv,  p.  300.) 


412  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

We  need  to  turn  our  attention  for  a  moment  to  the  business 
condition  of  the  country  and  notice  what  was  being  done  to  meet 

Political  affairs  tne  exPense  °^  tne  war-  The  outbreak  of  hos 
tilities  brought  great  disorder  to  the  North;  trade 
was  paralyzed.  Men  found  their  usual  sources  of  income  cut 
off,  and  many  seemed  to  face  privations  who  had  heretofore  not 
known  want.  But  the  courage  of  the  people  rose  in  the  midst 
of  need  and  hardship,  and  they  entered  with  prodigious  energy 
upon  the  task  of  supplying  their  immense  army 
w^h  the  smews  of  war.  They  economized  in 
order  to  lend  their  means  to  the  Government,  and 
they  met  the  heavy  taxes  with  cheerfulness.  Business  soon 
revived,  the  heavy  tariff  dues  that  were  laid  stimulated  manu 
facturing,  and  the  very  destruction  of  property,  while  it  meant 
a  real  loss  of  wealth,  made  for  the  time,  at  least,  a  demand  for 
work.  The  busy  wheels  of  industry  were  soon  whirling  at  the 
North.  There  was  no  languor  and  little  repining. 

The  Government  devised  various  plans  of  raising  the  req 
uisite  funds.     In  August  of  1861  a  higher  tariff  law  was  passed. 

The    reenbacks    "^  tm>S  ^6ar  a^OUt  $I5OjOOO)OO°  WCIC  borrowed  by 

the  sale  of  interest-bearing  bonds.  In  February, 
1862,  an  extreme  measure  was  adopted.  This  was  a  bill  pro 
viding  for  the  issue  of  paper  currency  —  the  so-called  "green 
backs".  These  pieces  of  paper  were  made  legal  tender;  in  other 
words,  persons  were  obliged  to  accept  them  as  the  equivalent 
of  money  in  the  ordinary  course  of  business.  Of  course  this 
paper  rapidly  depreciated.  Before  the  end  of  the  next  year  a 
dollar  in  gold  was  worth  a  dollar  and  fifty  cents  in  paper.  In 
1864  the  premium  on  gold  was  still  higher,  reaching  two  dollars 
and  eighty-five  cents  in  July  of  that  year.  The  depreciation 
of  the  paper  meant  a  rise  in  the  price  of  commodities. 

A  year  after  the  passage  of  the  Legal  Tender  Act  Congress 
passed  the  National  Bank  Act.     This  was  later  somewhat  al 

tered,  but  has  in  its  essentials  remained  in  force 


Act!0'       in      to  tnis  day-     Jt  made  provision  for  the  issue  of 

circulating  notes  by  banking  associations  through 

out  the  country  that  were  organized  in  conformity  to  law. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865  413 

United  States  bonds  were  to  be  purchased  by  the  banks  and 
deposited  with  the  Government;  the  bank  so  purchasing  wa? 
then  entitled  to  receive  and  circulate  notes  to  the  value  of  ninety 
per  cent,  of  the  bonds  deposited.  The  notes  were  guaranteed 
by  the  Government,  which  had  the  bonds  for  its  security.  For 
over  twenty  years  the  State  banks  had  furnished  the  paper  cur 
rency  of  the  country.  Their  notes  circulated  widely.  It  has 
been  estimated  that  in  1861  there  were  as  many  as  ten  thousand 
different  kinds  of  notes  in  circulation.  Naturally  such  a  con 
dition  had  brought  great  confusion  into  commercial  transac 
tions,  because  some  of  these  notes  were  valueless,  or  nearly  so, 
while  others  were  good  for  their  face  value.  By  the  establish 
ment  of  the  national  banking  system  a  real  national  currency, 
backed  by  the  credit  of  the  Government,  was  given  to  the  coun 
try.  Moreover,  as  associations  were  formed  to  take  advantage 
of  this  act,  there  came  a  demand  for  bonds,  and  this  helped  the 
credit  of  the  Government,  which  was  thus  enabled  to  dispose 
of  its  bonds  on  the  market  at  better  figures.  About  two  years 
later,  1865,  Congress  passed  a  law  levying  on  the  issue  of 
State  banks  a  tax  so  high  that  it  drove  their  notes  out  of 
circulation. 

The  Government  needed  to  use  every  expedient  for  raising 
money.  The  war  was  being  conducted  on  such  a  gigantic  scale 
Taxes  ^t  tne  expenses  were  enormous.  In  addition  to 

a  direct  tax  which  was  apportioned  among  the 
States,  a  system  of  excise  or  internal  revenue  was  established. 
Before  the  end  of  the  war  these  internal  revenue  taxes  were  very 
burdensome.  All  sorts  of  articles  were  taxed.  Every  branch 
of  trade  or  industry  was  called  upon  to  bear  its  part  of  the  bur 
den.  The  people  paid  with  a  willingness  that  is  surprising. 
"No  other  nation",  said  a  leading  English  paper,  "would  have 
endured  a  system  of  excise  duties  so  searching,  so  effective,  so 
troublesome".  When  admiring  the  loyal  bravery  of  the  men 
who  went  to  the  front  to  fight,  we  need  not  forget  the 
steadfast  patriotism  of  the  men  who  stayed  at  home  and 
supported  the  Government  with  unflinching  and  ungrudging 
readiness. 


114  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  armies  were  filled  by  volun 
teers;  but  in  the  early  part  of  1863  it  seemed  necessary  to  resort 
to  other  means  of  obtaining  the  needed  troops. 
The  year  l862>  h  wm  be  remembered,  was  not  a 
very  successful  one  in  the  field,  and  while  it  is  true 
that  the  great  body  of  the  Northern  people  bore  their  burdens 
bravely  and  were  willing  to  support  the  war  courageously,  there 
was  a  goodly  number  of  fault-finders,  who  pointed  to  each  defeat 
of  the  Union  forces  as  a  proof  that  the  South  could  never  be  con 
quered.  There  was  a  general  belief  that  the  Government  should 
undertake  to -get  men  and  money  in  the  systematic,  businesslike 
fashion  in  which  other  Governments  were  accustomed  to  pro 
vide  themselves,  and  not  simply  to  rely  upon  popular  enthusiasm, 
for  the  result  of  such  reliance  must  be  that  the  more  generous 
and  loyal  would  feel  the  duty  of  enlisting,  while  those  who  were 
selfish  and  critical  would  content  themselves  with  fault-finding. 
An  act  was  therefore  passed  providing  for  "enrolling  and  calling 
out  the  national  forces".  Able-bodied  men  between  twenty 
and  forty-five  were  to  be  enrolled.  A  certain  number  of  soldiers 
were  to  be  called  for,  in  the  future,  from  each  congressional  dis 
trict,  and  when  the  quota  of  a  given  district  was  not  filled  by 
volunteers,  drafts  were  to  be  made  from  the  enrolled  citizens. 
There  was  much  opposition  to  this  act.  In  July  a  riot  broke 
out  in  New  York  city,  which  for  four  days  was  almost  completely 
at  the  mercy  of  a  frenzied  mob.  Officers  of  the 
^aw  an(*  mnocent  citizens  were  killed;  negroes  were 
set  upon  and  slain ;  property  was  ruthlessly  burned. 
Troops  were  sent  to  the  city  by  the  National  Government,  and 
the  rioting  was  put  down  with  relentless  energy.  Over  a  thou 
sand  of  the  rioters  were  killed  before  order  was  completely 
restored. 

Early  in  1864  Grant  was  made  Lieutenant  General  and  given 

command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  United  States.     He  determined 

to  conduct  the  war  in  the  East  himself,  and  to 

'   leave  the  general  charge  in  the  West  to  his  tried 

friend  and  able  assistant,  Sherman. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865  415 

Grant  now  decided  to  move  steadily  forward  to  Richmond; 

but  the  main  thing  was  to  defeat  Lee  and  to  wear  out  his  army 

or  beat  it  to  pieces 

The  hammering    ,  .          ,    •. 

campaign,  1864.  bY  continual  ham- 
mering.  Here 
again,  to  you  and  me,  the  details 
of  battle  are  not  important. 
The  whole  early  summer  was 
one  long  carnage;  Northern 
fathers  and  mothers  looked  over 
the  papers  each  morning  fearing  ., 
to  see  a  beloved  name  in  the  ' 
columns  of  dead,  wounded,  or 
missing;  but  Grant  pressed  on, 
losing  thousands  upon  thou 
sands,  and  Lee  stubbornly  and 
ably  fought  his  battles  of  de 
fence.  Grant  would  not  be  beaten:  "I  propose",  he  said, 
"  to  fight  it  out  on  this  line,  if  it  takes  all  summer". 
Lee  could  not  be  out-general ed,  and  his  men,  devoted 
to  their  superb  leader,  fought  magnificently.  Gradually,  with 
almost  ceaseless  fighting,  the  Union  army  worked  its  way  south 
ward,  and  eastward,  until  it  was  not  far  from  the  position  that 
McClellan  had  taken  near  Richmond  two  years  before.1  Then 

1  The  early  battles  were  in  the  Wilderness,  a  low  forest  or  thicket  of 
undergrowth  and  second-growth  trees,  extending  for  miles,  and  intersected 
by  only  a  few  roads  by  which  troops  could  be  moved.  In  the  Battles  of 
the  Wilderness  (May  5-6,  1864)  about  17,500  Union  men  fell  and  probably 
nearly  that  number  of  Confederates.  After  these  battles,  Grant  moved 
on.  "  That  ",  said  General  Sherman,  "  was,  in  my  judgment,  the  supreme 
moment  of  his  life.  Undismayed,  with  a  full  comprehension  of  the  impor- 
^ance  of  the  work  in  which  he  was  engaged,  feeling  as  keen  a  sympathy  for 
his  dead  and  wounded  as  any  one,  and  without  stopping  to  count  his  num 
bers,  he  gave  his  orders  calmly,  specifically,  and  absolutely,  '  Forward  to 
Spottsylvania'  ". 

The  fighting  at  Spottsylvania  was  terrible  and  the  losses  great;  at  the 
bloody  angle  or  "  hell's  half  acre  "  the  battle  was  so  fierce  that  it  seems  as 
if  no  one  could  have  escaped  the  messenger  of  death;  trees  were  cut  down 
by  the  flying  bullets,  logs  were  splintered  to  pieces,  soldiers  struggled  io 


416  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

by  a  clever  move,  and  with  great  skill,  Grant  threw  his  army 
across  the  James  and  took  a  position  at  Petersburg,  a  strategic 
place  of  importance,  inasmuch  as  it  protected  the  communica 
tions  of  Richmond  with  the  South.  If  Petersburg  could  be 
taken,  Richmond,  it  seemed,  must  fall. 

As  to  whether  Grant  was  right  in  hammering  at  Lee's  army 
and  losing  tens  of  thousands  of  men,  there  may  still  be  a  differ 
ence  of  opinion.  The  losses  were  awful;  but  how  the  South 
could  have  been  overcome  without  beating  to  pieces  or  fatally 
weakening  Lee's  brave  army,  it  is  hard  to  see.  If  one  ever 
indulges  in  the  idea  that  war  is  good,  let  him  try  to  live  through 
hi  imagination  the  woe,  dismay,  and  heart-breaking  sorrow, 
which  came  to  North  and  South  alike  in  those  days  of  1864. 

The  investment  of  Petersburg  amounted  to  an  investment 
of  Richmond  itself.  Grant  was  determined  to  keep  his  troops 
Grant's  aims  active  and  to  wear  out  his  opponent  by  successive 
blows.  He  desired  to  get  round  the  end  of  Lee's 
army  and  to  cut  off  his  communications;  and  this  he  tried  to 
do,  not  by  using  his  whole  army  as  before,  but  by  extended 
cavalry  raids,  which  were  executed  with  great  vigor  and  daring. 

Earlier  in  the  summer  General  Sheridan,  with  a  picked  com 
mand,  had  ridden  completely  around  Lee's  army,  and  had  even 
passed  the  outer  works  of  Richmond.  He  was  later  (August, 
1864)  directed  to  take  charge  of  affairs  in  the  Shenandoah 

hand  to  hand  conflict;  prisoners  were  pulled  over  the  breastworks  from  one 
side  to  the  other.  (See  the  interesting  account  in  Schouler,  VI,  498.) 

The  Wilderness,  Spottsylvania,  and  its  "  bloody  angle",  Cold  Harbor, 
where  Grant  recklessly  assaulted  and  was  driven  back  with  fearful  loss — 
these  are  dark  names  in  American  history;  for  though  there  was  glory, 
there  was  dreadful  bloodshed.  Though  Lee  could  not  be  beaten,  after  each 
engagement  Grant  moved — not  backward  in  dismay —  but  grimly  onward, 
advancing  by  the  left,  trying  as  it  were,  "  to  get  around  Lee's  right  end", 
to  get  between  Lee  and  the  goal  line — Richmond  and  his  supplies.  Though 
we  call  it  the  "hammering  campaign",  as  a  matter  of  fact  Grant  would 
hammer  the  line,  then,  unable  to  break  through,  would  by  a  "  wing  shift  " 
or  by  a  flank  movement  try  to  get  around  the  end,  only  to  find  that  Lee's 
forces  were  there  ready  to  "  tackle  the  runner  ".  Still,  he  daily  got  nearer 
the  goal  and  weakened  Lee's  army,  which  could  not  stand  the  losses  that  his 
own  could  endure  with  the  great  force  of  the  North  behind  it. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865 


417 


me  HISTORICAL  SKETCH 
OF  THE  WAR 

Following  a  map  published 
by  U.S.  Coast  Survey 

.  LIMIT  OF  LOYAL  STATES 

JULY  1861 

MIT  OF  TERRY.CONTROLLED 

BY  U.S. FORCES  JULY  31,1863 
_._.      LIMIT  OF  TERRY.  GAINED 

BY  JAN.  1,  1864 

SIGN  OF  BLOCKADE 


Valley.  General  Early,  a  Confederate  leader  of  ability  and 
great  boldness,  after  having  been  within  sight  of  Washington, 
had  retired  up  the  valley.  Now  began  an  enter 
taining  game  of  war.  Sheridan  had  Grant's  au 
thority  "to  push  things  hard",  and  he  did  so.  By 
the  end  of  the  summer,  after  a  series  of  suc 
cessful  conflicts,  he  had  the  whole  valley  at 
his  mercy.  It  was  devastated  most  pitifully.  It  could 
no  more  be  a  highway  for  those  annoying  raids  which 
had  frightened  the  administration  at  Washington,  and  had 
such  a  demoralizing  effect  on  the  courage  and  hopefulness  of 
28 


Sheridan  in 
Shenandoah 
Valley,  August 
to  October, 
1864. 


418 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Cedar  Creek, 
October  19, 
1864. 


the  North.  In  October  occurred  the  famous  battle  of  Cedar 
Creek.  Early  surprised  the  Union  forces  and  vehemently  at 
tacked  them  during  Sheridan's  absence..  They 
had  begun  to  retreat,  and,  though  reforming  was 
going  on  and  the  day  was  not  wholly  lost,  there 
was  danger  of  complete  defeat,  when  Sheridan 
rode  upon  the  field,  and  by  his  magic  presence  cheered  the 
troops  to  renewed  effort/  He  rode  back  at  full  gallop, 
calling  out  to  the  straggling  fugitives:  "Face  the  other  way, 
boys!  We  are  going  back  to  our  camps!  We  are  going  to 
lick  them  out  of  their  boots  "!  And  so  they  did.  They  made 
a  bold  counter  attack  and  overwhelmed  the  enemy. 

Up  to  this  time  Mobile  had  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
Confederates.  The  task  of  blockading  it  effectually  had  proved 
practically  impossible.  In  1864  it  was  the  one 
opening  through  which  cotton  could  be  exported 
or  the  much-needed  supplies  brought  in  to  sustain 
the  languishing  Confederacy.  The  harbor  was  strongly  defended, 
but  Farragut  determined  to  capture  the  place  and  its  defenses. 


Mobile, 
August,  1864. 


THE  CONFEDERATE  RAM  TENNESSEE 
From  the  working  drawings  in  the  Confederate  Collection  at  Washington 

Lashed  to  the  rigging  of  the  flagship,  where  he  could  see  all  that 
was  going  on,  he  directed  the  movement  of  his  vessels,  moved 
on  into  the  harbor,  defeated  the  Confederate  fleet  and  captured 
the  forts.  The  taking  of  Mobile  sealed  up  the  whole  South. 
An  occasional  blockade  runner  might  creep  in,  or  sup 
plies  might  be  dragged  across  the  plains  from  Mexico,  but 
from  now  on  the  South  was  almost  completely  thrown  on  its 
own  resources. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865  419 

In  the  earlier  part  of  the  war  several  vessels  were  fitted  out 
in  England  for  the  use  of  the  Confederate  government.  Our 
minister  at  London,  Charles  Francis  Adams, 
called  the  attention  of  the  English  Government 
to  the  fact  that  these  vessels  were  building,  and  asked  that  they 
be  not  allowed  to  leave  the  harbor.  Attention  was  specially 
called  to  a  ship  known  as  the  "290".  The  government,  how 
ever,  did  not  intervene,  and  the  "290"  got  safely  off  to  sea. 
She  then  assumed  the  name  Alabama,  and  began,  as  a  privateer,  to 
prey  upon  American  commerce.  She  was  a  fast  sailer,  well  armed 
and  strong,  and  she  did  immense  damage,  capturing  and  burn 
ing  Northern  merchantmen.  There  were  other  vessels  of  the 
same  kind,  but  because  of  her  exceptional  success  the  Alabama 
was  especially  famous.  In  June,  1864,  a  battle  was  fought  off 
Cherbourg,  France,  between  this  Confederate  cruiser  and  the 
United  States  ship  Kearsarge.  The  two  vessels 
Kearsarge.  ^  were  °^  about  equal  size  and  armament.  The  con 
test  was  of  short  duration.  The  Kearsarge  was 
superbly  handled,  and  her  fire  was  deliberate  and  destructive. 
At  the  end  of  an  hour  the  Alabama  was  totally  disabled  and 
struck  her  colors.  Before  her  crew  could  be  taken  from  her  she 
sank  to  the  bottom  of  the  English  Channel.  Her  captain  and 
some  of  her  men  were  taken  on  board  an  English  vessel  and  thus 
escaped  capture. 

During  the  career  of  the  Alabama  she  had  destroyed  as  many 
as  sixty-three  merchantmen.  Other  vessels  of  the  same  sort, 
especially  the  Florida  and  the  Georgia,  had  like- 
United*  stales.  w^se  ^one  mucn  damage.  Our  Government  filed 
its  strenuous  protest  with  the  English  Government, 
asserting  that  these  vessels  ought  to  have  been  kept  from  going 
to  sea  when  it  was  well  known  for  what  purpose  they  were  being 
fitted  out.  The  warnings  of  the  United  States  Government  are 
summed  up  in  the  following  words  from  Secretary  Seward's 
dispatch  to  Mr.  Adams:  "Upon  these  principles  of  law  and  these 
assumptions  of  fact  the  United  States  do  insist,  and  must  con 
tinue  to  insist,  that  the  British  Government  is  justly  respon 
sible  for  the  damages  which  the  peaceful,  law-abiding  citi- 


420 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


zens  of  the  United  States  sustain  by  the  depredations  of  the 
Alabama". 

During  the  summer  of  1864  a  very  active  campaign  was 
fought  in  the  West.     Sherman  was  in  command  there  with  a 

stalwart  army  of  one  hundred  thousand  men.  The 
Campaign  in  troops  lay  just  south  of  Chattanooga  facing  the 
june,  1864.  Confederates,  who,  under  General  Johnston,  were 

at  Dal  ton,  Georgia.     Sherman  succeeded  in  deftly 


FIELD  OF  THE  LAST  CAMPAIGNS  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR  AND  THE  LINE 
OF  SHERMAN'S  MARCH 

manceuvering  the  Confederates  out  of  their  position,  and,  with 
out  direct  battle,  forced  them  back.  Little  by  little,  with  a 
toughened  army  which  seemed  almost  to  enjoy  the 
64  fearful  conflict,  he  pressed  on,  pushing  the  gal 
lant  Southerners  before  him,  and  in  September, 
after  a  summer  of  hard  fighting,  took  Atlanta. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865 


421 


Sherman  was  still  in  a  dangerous  position;  for  he  had  to  de 
pend  upon  supplies  brought  a  long  distance.     General  Hood, 
who  had  been  placed  in  command  of  the  Southern 

army  in  that  reSion  before  the  fal1  of  Atlanta, 
thinking  to  frighten  Sherman  out  of  his  well- 
earned  position,  moved  north  to  threaten  his  communications; 
but  the  plan  was  not  successful.  Sherman  concluded  that  with 
re-inforcements  Thomas,  whom  he  had  left  in  his  rear,  could 
take  care  of  Hood,  and  he  himself  made  ready  for  his  famous 
march  to.the  sea.  He  cut  loose 
from  his  base  of  supplies  and 
marched  across  Georgia. 
"  These  troops  numbered  over 
sixty  thousand  rugged  veterans, 
unhampered  by  sick  or  off-duty 
men,  with  twenty  days'  rations, 
plenty  of  beef  on  the  hoof, 
about  one  field  gun  per  thou 
sand  effectives,  and  an  excel 
lent  canvas  pontoon  train".1 
Early  in  December  he  appeared 
before  Savannah,  and  it  was 
evacuated  shortly  after.2 

This  great  march  through 
the  very  heart  of  the  Confederacy 
was  proof  positive  that  the  South  could  endure  but  a  few  months 
longer  at  the  best.  Sherman  had  disappeared  in  the  heart  of 
Georgia,  and  when  he  reappeared  at  Savannah  a  great  load  was 
taken  from  the  anxious  hearts  of  the  North.  Grant  wrote  him: 

1  Dodge,  p.  287. 

2  December  226.,  Sherman  sent  Lincoln  the  following  dispatch  (Sher 
man's  Memoirs,  vol.  ii,  p.  231): 

SAVANNAH,  GA.,  December  22,  1864. 
To  His  Excellency,  President  Lincoln,  Washington,  D.  C.: 

I  beg  to  present  you  as  a  Christmas  gift  the  city  of  Savannah,  with  one 
hundred  and  fifty  heavy  guns  and  plenty  of  ammunition;  also  about  twenty- 
five  thousand  bales  of  cotton. 

W.  T.  SHERMAN,  Major  General. 


422  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

"I  never  had  a  doubt  of  the  result.  When  apprehensions  foi 
your  safety  were  expressed  by  the  President,  I  assured  him  with 
the  army  you  had,  and  you  in  command  of  it,  there  was  no  dan 
ger,  but  you  would  strike  bottom  on  salt  water  some  place  "-1 

Meanwhile  Thomas  had  been  playing  a  skillful   game  with 
Hood.     The   Southern  general,   venturesome  and  aggressive, 

marched  to   the   North   against   Thomas,  whose 
Hood.     mam   position   was   at   Nashville.     Thomas  was 

cautious  and  wary.  Despite  orders  from  Washing 
ton  and  demands  from  Grant  that  an  advance  be  made,  Thomas 
Nashville,  to°k  a^  tne  time  he  wished  to  make  complete  pre- 
December,  parations  and  to  put  his  forces  in  full  readiness  for 
l864"  battle.  He  then  turned  upon  Hood  and  crushed 

him.2    The  war  was  practically  over  in  the  West. 

Political   as  well   as   military  difficulties   surrounded   the 
President  in  the  summer  of  1864.    One  would  think  that  the 

political  affairs    task  °^  carrymg  on  this  great  war  was  enough 
without  other  cares  or  responsibilities,  especially 
during  these  dreadful  months,  when  the  Union   forces  were 
indeed  pushing  on  to  victory,  but  at  a  fearful  cost  in  blood 
and  treasure.     Though  it  was  clear  that  under  Grant's  ter 
rific  blows  the  Confederacy  could  not  last  much  longer,  Lin 
coln  was  surrounded  by  unfriendly  critics.     Some  of  the  public 
men  of  the  President's  own  party  were  opposed  to  him,  and 
some  were  making  plans  to  defeat  him  in  the   coming   elec 
tion.    All  through  his  term  he  had  been  troubled 
d1ffic°i!ities.         an(^  harassed  by  political  squabbles  and  quarrels, 
but  in  the  spring  and  early  summer  of  1864  there 
were  new  dangers  and  annoyances. 


1  Sherman,  Memoirs,  vol.  ii,  p.  223. 

2  Thomas  was  a  Virginian,  but  refused  to  follow  his  State  into  rebellion. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  successful  generals  of  the  war,  shrewd,  careful,  thorT 
ough.    He  knew  not  defeat,  and  always  fought  with  the  utmost  coolness, 
precision,  and  energy.    He  was  modest  and  unpresuming,  yet  few  were  so; 
competent  to  command.    Dodge  says:  "He  perhaps  falls  as  little  short  .o£ 
the  model  soldier  as  any  man  produced  by  this  country  ", 


SECESSION  AND"  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865 


423 


Even  Secretary  Chase  had  for  a  time  been  nursing  presi 
dential  ambitions,  and  his  candidacy  was  urged  by  many  of 
Lincoln's  opponents.  It  was  soon  proved  that 
Lincoln  had  the  people  behind  him.  They  sym 
pathized  with  him  and  felt  his  worth.  Chase  saw,  before  long, 
that  his  candidacy  was  hopeless;  but  his  relations  with  the 


Chase  resigns. 


•MM 


THE   GRAVE   OF    THE    UNION,    OR    MAJOR    JACK    DOWNING'S  DREAM, 

DRAWN  BY  ZEKE 

A    contemporary    cartoon    of    Lincoln    and  his  policies,  illustrating  the 
type  of  criticism  levelled  at  him 

President  had  become  so  strained  that  he  gave  Up  his  secretary 
ship.  Lincoln  showed  his  magnanimous  spirit  by  making  him 
Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States. 

In  May  a  "mass  convention"  assembled  at  Cleveland.    It 
was  made  up  of  the  fault-finders  who  were  out  of  all  patience 
with  what  they  considered  Lincoln's  lack  of  vigor 
an(^  administrative  power.     The  convention  nom 
inated  John  C.  Fremont  for  the  presidency,  but 
the  movement  was  not  taken  seriously  by  the  people,  and  Fre 
mont  finally  withdrew,  delivering  as  a  parting  shot  the  assertion 


424  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

that  Lincoln's  administration  was  "politically,  militarily,  and 
financially  a  failure". 

When  the  Republican  Convention  met  there  was  not  the 
slightest  doubt  of  Lincoln's  nomination.  The  Union  people 

of  the  whole  North,  in  a  great  many  different  ways, 
renomTnated.  ^a(^  announced  in  unmistakable  language  that  he 

was  their  only  choice.  He  was  nominated  unan 
imously  on  the  first  ballot.1  Thus  the  fault-finding  of  ambitious 
and  quarrelsome  leaders  and  critical  newspapers  was  of  abso 
lutely  no  avail  before  the  wish  of  the  nation.  There  was  some 
trouble  in  choosing  the  vice-president.  It  was  felt  by  many 
that  it  would  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  nominate  a  war  Democrat 
— some  one  who  had  belonged  to  the  Democratic  party  before 
the  war,  but  who  was  now  working  in  harmony  with  the  Repub 
licans.  Because  of  this  feeling  Hannibal  Hamlin  was  not  re- 
nominated,  and  the  choice  of  the  convention  fell  upon  Andrew 
Johnson,  of  Tennessee.  A  platform  was  adopted  declaring  in 
favor  of  the  vigorous  conduct  of  the  war,  and  announcing 
"  that  as  slavery  was  the  cause  and  now  constitutes  the  strength 
of  this  rebellion,  and  as  it  must  be  always  and  everywhere 
hostile  to  the  principles  of  republican  government,  justice  and 
the  national  safety  demand  its  utter  and  complete  extirpation 
from  the  soil  of  the  republic". 

The  Democratic  party  nominated  Gen.  George  B.  Mc- 
Clellan  for  the  presidency,  and  George  H.  Pendleton,  of  Ohio, 
for  the  vice-presidency.  The  convention  demanded  that 
"  immediate  efforts  be  made  for  a  cessation  of  hostilities  with 
a  view  to  an  ultimate  convention  of  all  the  States,  or  other 
peaceable  means,  to  the  end  that  at  the  earliest  practicable 
moment  peace  may  be  restored  on  the  basis  of  the  Federal 

union  of  the  States".  The  war  was  declared  a 
nominated  failure,  and  various  acts  of  the  President  were 

denounced  as  usurpation  "of  extraordinary  and 
dangerous  powers  not  granted  by  the  Constitution". 


JThe  Missouri  delegation  voted  for  Grant,  but  changed  this  vote  so 
that  Lincoln  could  be  nominated  unanimously. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865 


425 


The  election. 


THE  TRUE  ISSUE;  OR,  "THAT'S  WHAT'S  THE  MATTER" 
(From  a  poster  of  1864) 

The  presidential  campaign  was  a  very  earnest  and  serious 
contest.  The  Republicans  felt  that  everything  was  at  stake 
and  put  forth  every  endeavor,  while  the  Demo 
crats  were  more  successful  in  holding  their  forces 
together  than  might  have  been  expected — a  result  due  in  large 
part  to  the  fact  that  McClellan  partly  repudiated  the  platform 
by  announcing  himself  in  favor  of  peace,  but  only  on  terms  that 
would  preserve  the  Union.  While  the  political  discussions  were 
in  progress  at  the  North,  Sherman  won  his  great  victory  over 
Hood  at  Atlanta.  Under  such  circumstances  the  declaration 
that  the  war  was  a  failure  lost  much  of  its  force.  Sherman's 
telegram,  "Atlanta  is  ours,  and  fairly  won",  gave  new  courage 
and  great  joy  to  the  supporters  of  the  Administration.  Lincoln 
was  elected  by  a  large  electoral  majority,  receiving  two  hundred 
and  twelve  votes  against  twenty-one  for  his  opponent.  The 
Democrats  carried  only  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  Ken 
tucky. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Emancipation  Proclamation 
declared  free  all  slaves  within  those  parts  of  the  South  then  in 


426  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

open  "rebellion".    This  was  confessedly  a  war  measure — like 

any  other  confiscation  of  property,  an  act  of  war.     It  did  not 

destroy  slavery  everywhere.     Moreover,  some  per- 

Thirteenth         sons  believed  that  the  President  had  exceeded  his 

Amendment  in  .        .       .        .  ;  ,  ,.  T      ., 

Congress.  authority  in  issuing  such  a  proclamation.  In  the 

early  part  of  1864  a  vote  on  the  question  of  sub 
mitting  a  constitutional  amendment  abolishing  slavery  was 
taken  in  Congress.  The  necessary  two-thirds  vote  could  not 
be  secured  in  the  House,  though  the  Senate  passed  the  measure 
by  a  large  majority.  After  the  election,  carried  by  the  Repub 
licans  on  a  distinctly  anti-slavery  platform,  abolition  assumed 
new  strength.  The  President  in  his  annual  message  advocated 
the  adoption  of  the  amendment.  A  great  debate  in  the  House 
followed.  The  vote  was  one  hundred  and  nineteen  ayes  to 
fifty-six  noes — seven  more  than  the  required  two  thirds.  In  the 
homely),  truthful  phrase  of  Lincoln,  the  "great  job"  was  ended. 

It  was  still  necessary  that  three-fourths  of  the  States  should 
ratify.1  But  this  ratification  was  assured.  This  amendment 
declared  that  "neither  slavery  nor  involuntary 
the°statesn  servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime  where 
of  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted,  shall 
exist  within  the  United  States  or  any  place  subject  to  their 
jurisdiction".  Thus  the  principle  of  the  ordinance  of  1787  was, 
in  almost  the  exact  words  of  that  document,  made  applicable 
to  the  whole  Union;  the  great  curse  that  had  separated  the 
American  people  into  two  bitterly  hostile  sections  was  to  be  cast 
aside  for  ever.  The  hopes  of  the  future  were  for  reorganization, 
a  re-establishment  of  sympathy  and  fellow-feeling  between 
North  and  South,  now  that  the  cause  of  enmity  and  division 
was  no  more.  As  Lincoln  pointed  out,  the  amendment  meant 
the  "maintenance"  of  the  Union. 

In  giving  this  account  of  political  matters  we  have  passed 
by  the  military  events  of  the  winter  and  spring  of  1865,  events 


1  This  was  done  in  the  course  of  the  year.  In  December,  1865,  a  proc 
lamation  was  issued  declaring  that  the  thirteenth  amendment  was  added 
to  the  Constitution. 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865  427 

which  made  abolition  of  slavery  more  than  words.     Leaving 
Savannah,  Sherman  marched  north  through  the  Carolinas,  ha 
rassed  but  not  long  retarded  by  the  Confederates 
under  Johnston.      Grant  still  held  Lee  at  Rich 
mond  and  Petersburg,  and  the  end  was  evidently  near  at  hand. 
March  saw  some  sharp  fighting  along  the  line;  but  the  Confed- 

Lee  and  'Grant  erates  were  daily  growing  weaker,  and  Lee  was 
getting  anxious  to  break  away  and  to  push  south 
ward  and  form  a  junction  with  Johnston.  If  this  were  done, 
Sherman  might  perhaps  be  crushed  before  Grant  could  get  to 
his  support.  Grant  watched  Lee  with  caution  and  anxiety.  A 
few  severe  and  bloody  engagements  occurred,  but  without 
bringing  the  end.  Grant  handled  his  immense  army  with  great 
ability,  and  with  full  comprehension  of  his  task.  Lee  fought 
with  desperation  and  his  accustomed  skill.  The  Union  army 
was  steadily  winding  itself  more  closely  about  the  doomed 
Confederate  army  and  capital. 

,    At  length  Lee  slipped  away  in  the  night  (April  2,3).     Grant 

entered  Richmond   and  began   a  hot  pursuit.     The  ragged, 

starving,  brave,  disheartened  Confederates  made 

Lee  surrenders      .     . 

Apra  9, 1865.  their  wav  westward,  harassed  at  every  step  by  the 
pursuing  cavalry.  If  they  were  to  escape  at  all, 
it  must  be  by  the  narrow  strip  of  land  between  the  Appomattox 
and  James  rivers.1  But  Sheridan  planted  himself  in  the  way. 
Lee  was  surrounded.  On  the  pth  of  April  he  surrendered. 
Grant  gave  generous  and  wise  terms.  The  Confederates  were 
released  on  parole,  "not  to  take  up  arms  against  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  until  properly  exchanged";  the  offi 
cers  and  men  were  to  return  to  their  homes,  "not  to  be  disturbed 
by  the  United  States  authority  so  long  as  they  observe  their 
paroles  and  the  laws  in  force  where  they  reside".  In  later  years 
Grant  was  charged,  perhaps  justly,  with  mistakes  and  blunders 
especially  during  his  presidency;  but  both  North  and  South 
will  always  remember  that  in  the  hour  of  triumph  and  victory 
he  was  generous  and  not  vindictive  or  small.  His  course  was 

1  Read  Dodge,  Bird's-eye  View  of  the  Civil  War,  pp.  313-318. 


428  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

probably  influential  in  pointing  out  to  the  North  the  path  of 
wise  self-restraint  in  days  of  exultation.  Johnston  surrendered 
to  Sherman  on  the  26th  of  April. 

t,#  <?*. 

o'clock,  /?     M. 


By  Command  of 


GRANT'S  DISPATCH  ANNOUNCING  THE  SURRENDER  OF  LEE 

The  great  Civil  War  was  at  an  end.  The  North  had  put 
forth  its  energy  and  crushed  all  opposition,  pouring  into  the 
field  an  army  as  large  as  the  fabulous  host  of  Xerxes.  The 


SECESSION  AND  CIVIL  WAR— 1861-1865  429 

armies  of  the  East  and  the  West  had  fought  with  courage  and 
devotion.  "All  that  it  was  possible  for  men  to  do  in  battle 
they  have  done",  said  Grant,  and  he  knew  whereof 
^e  sP°^e.  The  mistaken  South  had  fought  with  a 
spirit,  a  heroism,  and  a  courage  that  tempt  us  to 
forget  the  cause  and  prompt  us  only  to  remember  that  from 
Key  West  to  the  St.  Croix  all  now  are  brethren  of  a  common 
country.  Grant's  words  in  addressing  his  former  comrades  in 
arms  are  well  chosen:  "Let  them  hope  for  perpetual  peace  and 
harmony  with  that  enemy  whose  manhood,  however  mistaken 
the  cause,  drew  forth  such  herculean  deeds  of  valor". 

The  efforts  of  the  South  to  sustain  the  war  had  been  mag 
nificent.  We  have  seen  how  dependent  the  Southern  people 
were  on  outside  products.  There  were  few  fac- 
fhe  South  tories  of  any  kind.  The  very  arms  with  which  to 
fight  needed  to  be  smuggled  through  the  blockade, 
or,  before  the  Mississippi  was  under  Federal  control,  wearily 
brought  across  Texas  from  Mexico.  After  the  capture  of  Mo 
bile  the  country  was  almost  completely  surrounded.  Occa 
sionally  a  blockade  runner  succeeded  in  slipping  through  the 
barriers  and  bringing  in  supplies  from  Europe;  yet  such  acci 
dental  aid  helped  but  little.  The  Confederacy  was  day  by  day, 
and  month  by  month,  strangled  by  the  toils  of  the  immense 
army  and  navy  that  encompassed  it.  The  people  fought  with 
desperation,  and  yet  we  need  not  believe  that  all  were  anxious 
to  enter  the  army;  a  year  before  the  North  resorted  to  the  draft 
the  Confederate  congress  took  the  same  step,  and  before  the 
end  of  the  war  it  was  determined  even  to  enroll  slaves  as  troops. 
Money  was  almost  unattainable.  When  once  the  Confederacy 
was  shut  off  from  the  civilized  world,  borrowing  was  practically 
impossible.  Paper  money  was  issued  by  the  million  dollars, 
"payable  six  months  after  the  close  of  the  war".  This  paper 
fell  down,  down,  as  the  prospects  of  the  Confederacy  grew  dim 
mer.  In  May,  1864,  a  clerk  in  Richmond  entered  these  prices 
in  his  diary:  "Boots,  two  hundred  dollars;  coats,  three  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars;  pantaloons,  one  hundred  dollars;  .  .  .  flour, 
two  hundred  and  seventy-five  dollars  per  barrel;  .  .  .  bacon, 


430  HISTORY  6F  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

nine  dollars  per  pound;  ...  potatoes,  twenty-five  dollars  per 
bushel;  ...  wood,  fifty  dollars  per  cord". 

Thus  it  was  that  the  South  was  beaten — not  because  the 

people  could  not  fight,  or  because  they  were  not  willing  to  bear 

privation  and  hardships.     History,  perhaps,  shows 

Slavery  de-        nQ.  paranel  to  the  brave  constancy  of  Lee's  men  in 

feated  the  ,1        <•         <-  i  •  r      o/:       ^  i  ,1 

South.  the  fearful  campaign  of  1864-65,  when  they  must 

have  seen  that  under  Grant's  terrific  hammering 

they  could  not  long  endure.     The  men  who  stayed  at  home  on 

the  plantations,  and,  above  all,  the  women — for  they  were  the 


THE  GREAT  "COMPROMISE  CARTOON" 

First  published  in  Harper's  Weekly 
One  of  Thomas  Nast's  most  famous  and  successful  cartoons 

greatest  sufferers  from  actual  want — endured  their  trials  with 
great  resolution  and  cheerfulness.  It  was  not  lack  of  bravery, 
skill,  or  determination  that  defeated  the  South.  It  was  slavery. 
While  the  lumber,  iron,  and  coal  of  the  North  were  put  to 
service  by  an  intelligent  people,  whose  every  industrial  suc 
cess  prompted  to  new  energy,  the  South  was  laboring  un 
der  a  destructive  system  which  had  been  abandoned  by 


SECESSION  AND  Giyi%W^H—  1861-1865  431 


every  other  part  of  the  Teutonics  ja,ce;  and.  the  fearful.  pen 
alty  of  slavery  was  civil  war  and  disastrous,  overwhelming  de 
feat. 

The  Union  was  preserved.    The  greatest  civil  war  in  history 

determined  that  the  American  republic  must  endure;  but  the 

cost  was  enormous.     Not  counting  the  men  who 

t™ewaSrSeS°f      died  at  home   as   a   result   of   wounds   received 
in  battle  or  exposure  in  the  line  of  duty,  over 

300,000  Northern  men  gave  up  their  lives  for  their  country. 

The  loss  of  the  South  could  have  been  but  little  less.     From 

all  causes  the  nation  lost  nearly  a  million  of  its  able-bodied 

men. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  there  were  1,000,516  men  in  the 

Northern  army.     The  receipts  of  the  Government  by  taxation 
during  the  four  years  were  not  far  from  $800,000,- 

Its  awful  cost.  ...  J      .  .  e    . 

ooo,  but  this  was  only  a  small  portion  of  the  amount 
which  was  expended.  Money  was  spent  with  lavish  profusion. 
The  total  debt  at  the  end  of  the  war  was  $2,844,649,626.  But 
one  cannot  count  the  real  cost  of  these  four  years 
of  destruction,  when  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
men  were  taken  from  remunerative  employment,  to  spend  their 
energies  in  bringing  desolation  and  in  killing  their  fellows.  The 
North  offered  up  a  great  sacrifice  for  union  and  for  the  perpetu 
ation  of  the  Government.  But  the  sacrifice  of  the  South  was 
greater.  Figures  can  give  no  idea  of  what  it  cost  the  South  to 
defend  slavery  and  her  chosen  constitutional  principles.  She 
offered  up  her  very  life.  At  the  end  of  the  war  the  whole  coun 
try  was  desolate.  Poverty  was  the  lot  of  men  who  had  been 
reared  in  luxury.  For  four  years  Virginia  had  been  a  battle 
field.  The  more  southern  and  western  States  fared  but  little 
better.  The  rebellion  had  been  starved  to  death;  and  when  the 
soldiers  left  the  army  and  sought  their  homes,  they  were  con 
fronted  by  want  and  desolation.  The  courage  with  which  men 
took  up  their  new  lives  was  no  less  great  than  their  bravery  in 
war. 

The    immense    Union    army    of    a    million    soldiers    was 
disbanded.    The  men  went  quietly  back   to   the  farm,  the 


432  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

counting-house,  or  the  workshop.    Within  a  few  weeks  this 
huge  army  was  absorbed  back  into  the  body  of  the  people. 
There    was    no   violence,    no    license,    no    riot- 
^nS-     ^ne  v°lunteer  soldier  showed  his  sense  and 
self-restraint   by   becoming   an   ordinary   citizen 
once  more. 

REFERENCES 

WILSON,  Division  and  Reunion,  pp.  219-252;  BURGESS,  The  Civil 
War  and  The  Constitution,  Volume  I,  Chapters  VII-XI;  Volume  II; 
MORSE,  Lincoln,  Volume  I,  pp.  250-387;  Volume  II;  LOTHROP, 
Seward,  pp.  262-364;  HART,  Chase,  Chapters  VIII-XII;  STOREY, 
Charles  Sumner,  Chapters  XII-XVII;  McCALL,  Thaddeus  Stevens, 
Chapters  VIII-XII;  RHODES,  Volume  III,  Chapters  XV,  XVI, 
Volume  IV;  HOSMER,  The  Appeal  to  Arms;  HOSMER,  Outcome  of  the 
Civil  War;  PAXSON,  The  Civil  War;  SCHOULER,  History  of  United 
States,  Volume  VI. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION— 1865-1877 

The  war  was  ended.     But  while  the  people  of  the  whole 
North  were  giving  themselves  up  to  joy  and  thanksgiving,  there 
came  the  awful  tidings  that  President  Lincoln  had 
Lincoln*  keen  assassinated.     He  was  shot  in  his  box  at 

Ford's  theater  on  the  evening  of  April  i4th,  by 
John  Wilkes  Booth,  an  actor  of  some  repute,  who  seems  to  have 
longed  for  notoriety,  and  to  have  sought  this  dastardly  revenge 
for  Southern  wrongs  and  sufferings.  The  same  evening  Seward 
was  assaulted  at  his  home  and  grievously  wounded.  Lincoln 
died  the  next  morning.  There  proved  to  be  a  plot,  in  which  there 
were  a  number  of  conspirators,  whose  purpose  seems  to  have 
been  the  assassination  of  several  of  the  more  prominent  men  to 
whom  the  country  was  looking  for  guidance.  Booth  was,  how 
ever,  the  chief  conspirator  and  the  head  and  front  of  the  enter 
prise.  He  was  pursued  and  shot.  Several  of  the  conspirators 
were  arrested  and  tried.  Four  were  hanged,  three  imprisoned 
for  life,  and  one  for  a  term  of  years. 

The  North  mourned  Lincoln's  loss  with  sincere  sorrow. 
There  came  to  each  loyal  heart  a  sense  of  keen  personal  afflic 
tion  and  bitter  grief.    The  "plain  people"  had 
nation.*0  come  to  know  their  President,  to  trust  him  and  to 

love  him  as  no  other  public  man  has  been  loved 
in  our  history.  They  felt  that  his  death  foreboded  trouble,  and 
mayhap  disaster.  Could  Lincoln  have  lived,  the  great  task  of 
reorganizing  the  shattered  fabric  of  the  Union  might  have  been 
accomplished  without  begetting  strong  partisan  bitterness  or 
violence;  perhaps  the  long  period  of  estrangement  between  the 
North  and  South  might  have  been  shortened.  Vice-President 
Andrew  Johnson  assumed  the  presidency  without  delay  and  the 
29  433 


434  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Government  went  on  with  its  work.  There  was  no  anarchy  or 
confusion  in  the  conduct  of  its  business.  Republican  govern 
ment  never  received  a  severer  test. 

The  new  President  was  a  man  of  vigor,  of  strong  convictions, 
and  of  set  purposes.  He  belonged  to  the  poor  whites  of  Tennes 
see,  and  had  in  youth  no  more  training  or  advan- 
tages  than  one  of  his  class  was  apt  to  have.  He 
had  reached  manhood  before  learning  even  to  read 
and  write.  His  determination  and  zeal,  however,  carried  him 
forward  in  political  life.  Before  his  nomination  to  the  vice- 
presidency  he  had  been  in  the  lower  House  of  Congress,  Gov 
ernor  of  Tennessee,  and  United  States  Senator.  By  refusing  to 
follow  his  State  into  secession  he  had  won  attention  and  renown 
at  the  North.  Conscientious  and  patriotic  he  was,  no  doubt; 
but  he  was  narrow,  dogmatic,  and  obstinate.  He  was  a  man  of 
much  native  ability,  but  coming,  as  did  Lincoln,  from  the  most 
humble  surroundings,  he  had  not  Lincoln's  native  culture  and 
sweetness,  nor  the  faculty  of  winning  men  and  of  feeling  sym 
pathy  with  them. 

The  difficulties  that  confronted  Johnson's  administration 
were  many  and  arduous.  The  South  was  in  a  condition  of 
poverty,  a  condition  bordering  on  helplessness, 
of  the  time!*8  There  were  no  legal  State  governments,  no  civil 
officers  with  legal  authority  to  act.  Millions  of 
men  born  in  bondage  were  now  free,  and  had  no  knowledge  of 
how  to  use  their  freedom,  or  how  to  earn  their  daily  bread  with 
out  direction.  There  was  not  much  turbulence,  for  the  negroes 
did  not  fully  realize  their  new  situation,  and  the  whites  were 
exhausted  after  the  four  terrible  years  of  strife.  How  could 
order  be  brought  to  the  weary  and  distracted  South?  How 
could  industry  be  established  on  a  new  basis?  How  could  the 
relation  between  the  two  races  be  determined?  Were  the 
States  themselves  to  be  allowed  to  solve  all  their  problems  as 
each  one  saw  fit,  or  was  the  National  Government  to  intervene 
and  endeavor  to  shape  Southern  institutions?  Was  the  North 
to  take  full  advantage  of  its  victory,  and  insist  upon  raising  the 
black  man  to  a  place  by  the  side  of  his  late  master  in  social 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION      435 

and  political  right,  or  was  political  power  to  he  left  solely  in  the 
hands  of  the  men  who  had  waged  war  against  the  nation?  These 
were  questions  of  the  greatest  importance.  Some  of  them  only 
time  could  answer.  However  much  might  be  done  by  way  of 
legislation,  time  was  needed  to  bring  anything  like  a  solution 
of  the  new  labor  problem  of  the  South,  or  to  establish  suitable 
social  relations  between  the  negroes  and  whites. 

Moreover,  questions  arose  concerning  the  right  of  the  Fed 
eral  Government  to  do  anything  about  the  internal  affairs  of 
the  States,  or  to  treat  them  in  any  way  save  as 
difficulties,  members  of  the  Union,  with  full  rights  and  privi 
leges.  It  was  argued,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  war 
had  been  conducted  on  the  principle  that  the  States  could  not 
go  out  of  the  Union,  and  it  was  maintained  that,  if  they  could 
not  go  out,  they  were  now  in,  on  terms  of  equality  with  the  other 
States.1  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  leading  Republicans  now 
declared  that  the  States  had,  at  least  to  some  extent,  forfeited 
their  rights  as  States,  and  that,  before  they  were  once  more  re 
instated  in  their  constitutional  relations,  certain  reforms  should 
be  brought  about.  These  men  wished  to  have  assurance  that 
the  war  was  actually  over  and  that  the  negro  was  safe  from 
molestation.  Some  of  the  leaders — men  like  Charles  Sumner — 
looking  upon  the  war  as  a  great  struggle  for  human  freedom, 
were  unwilling  to  consider  that  the  real  contest/was  finished  until 
the  freemen  were  given  the  right  to  vote  and  were  in  possession 
of  social  as  well  as  political  privileges.  We  need  not  consider 
at  length  the  legal  arguments  upon  which  the  Republicans  based 
their  assertion  that  Congress  had  power  to  declare  that  the 
Southern  States  were  not  immediately  entitled  to  representa 
tion  in  Congress  or  to  their  full  rights  as  members  of  the  Union. 

1  It  will  be  remembered  that  trie  North  had  begun  the  war  on  the  theory 
that  the. States  could  not  leave  the  Union.  The  Republicans  had  declared 
the  war  an  insurrection,  an  uprising  of  the  people  against  the  Govern 
ment,  and  that  war  could  be  made  on  persons  to  compel  their  obedience. 
Those  who  did  not  agree  with  them  now  said:  Well,  if  the  States  could  not 
legally  secede  they  were  never  out  of  the  Union.  Acknowledge  therefore 
that  they  are  now  entitled  to  send  ^representatives  to  Congress  and  exer 
cise  in  full  the  rights  of  States. 


436  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

That  men  did  seek  to  find  legal  justification  for  their  every  ac 
tion  is  of  interest,  because  it  shows  that  the  people  were  still 
regardful  of  legal  rights  and  principles  even  at  the  end  of  the 
greatest  civil  conflict  in  history  which  in  many  a  nation  would 
have  been  destructive  of  all  rights  save  those  of  brute  force. 
But  the  North  felt  that  the  South  must  be  reorganized,  and  it  is 
of  little  real  moment  what  was  the  legal  theory  or  fiction  on 
which  Congress  based  its  action.  Republican  plans  as  to  what 
steps  should  be  taken  matured  somewhat  slowly.  By  no  means 
the  whole  party  was  ready  at  first  to  follow  its  extreme  leaders 
in  endeavoring  to  establish  negro  suffrage  in  the  South;  but  the 
whole  party  did  desire  that  steps  be  taken  to  make  the  safety 
of  the  freedman  certain. 

The  President  issued  (May  29,  1865)  a  proclamation  of 
amnesty,  offering  to  pardon  all  persons  who  had  been  engaged 
in  the  late  rebellion,  save  certain  classes  of  persons  who  were 
to  apply  specially  for  pardon.  All  availing  themselves  of 
the  offer  of  amnesty  were  to  take  an  oath  of  loyalty  and  pledge 
themselves  to  support  Federal  laws,  including  the  emancipation 
proclamation. 

At  the  same  time  Johnson  began  his  system  of  reconstruc 
tion  by  appointing  provisional  goyernors  for   the   Southern 
States.     Each  governor  was  authorized  to  provide 
Johnson's          for  fae  assembling  of  a  convention  that  would 
reconstruction,    alter  or  amend  the  State  Constitution  and  provide 
for  the  establishment  of  the  State  in  its  constitu 
tional  relations.1 

This  plan  of  the  President  seemed  to  give  the  power  into 
the  hands  of  the  white  people  of  the  South  and  to  make  no  provi 
sion  for  the  f reedmen.     It  was  therefore  opposed  by 
it  is  disliked       the  great  majority  of  the  Republican  party,  inas- 
R*pubiicans.       much  as  they  believed  in  keeping  the  Southern 
States  under  the  control  of  the  National  Government 
until  the  negro  was  secure  in  his  rights.    The  opposition  to  the 


1  The  plan  was  not  essentially  different  from  what  Lincoln  had  advo 
cated. 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION      437 

President  would  not  have  been  so  bitter  had  it  not  been  for  two 
things:  (i)  Johnson  showed  himself  headstrong  and  utterly  lack 
ing  in  tact;  (2)  the  Southern  States,  organized  under  the  Presi 
dent's  direction,  began  to  pass  laws  that  bore  heavily  upon  the 
freedmen — laws  that  seemed  to  have  the  object  of  making  the 
negro  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  slave  again.  It  was  quite 
evident  that  even  those  acts  that  appeared  harmless  might 
easily  be  enforced  so  as  practically  to  establish  involuntary 
servitude  within  a  State  contrary  to  the  Thirteenth  Amend 
ment,  which,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  just  at  this  time 
adopted  and  put  in  force.1 

When  Congress  met  in  December,  1865,  many  were  annoyed 
at  the  President's  haste,  and  were  determined  that  the  Southern 
_  .  States  should  not  be  allowed  their  full  constitu- 

Congress  takes 

charge  of  the  tional  rights  until  the  negro  was  fully  protected 
Southern  from  unjust  legislation.  But  when  Congress 

passed  an  act  providing  for  a  bureau  for  the  relief 
cf  freedmen  and  refugees,  Johnson  vetoed  it.  Immediately 
upon  ttit  reception  of  this  veto  Congress  passed  a  joint  resolu 
tion  declaring  that  no  senator  or  representative  should  be  ad 
mitted  into  either  branch  of  Congress  from  any  one  of  the  States 
lately  in  rebellion  until  such  State  was  declared  by  Congress 
entitled  to  such  representation.  By  this  means  Congress  could 
compel  the  States  to  accept  certain  regulations  that  were 
deemed  essential.  An  open  rupture  between  the  President  and 
the  party  that  elected  him  might  have  been  avoided  even  yet, 
perhaps,  or  at  least  delayed,  had  Johnson  not  begun  to  make 
intemperate  and  unbecoming  speeches,  denouncing  the  Congress 
as  uno  Congress",  and  even  charging  individual  members  with 
opposition  to  the  fundamental  "principles  of  this  Government" 
and  with  "laboring  to  destroy  them". 

Somewhat  later  in  the  session  a  Civil  Rights  bill  was  passed. 
The  intention  of  the  act  was  to  establish  the  equality  of  the 
races  in  the  Southern  States,  to  put  the  freedmen  under  the 
protection  of  National  law  and  National  officers,  safe  from  per- 

1  December,  186*. 


438  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

secution  or  molestation  at  the  will  or  caprice  of  a  State.  It 
declared,  among  other  things,  that  "all  persons  born  in  the 
United  States  and  not  subject  to  any  foreign 
power"  were  citizens  of  the  United  States.  This 
act  was  vetoed,  but  was  promptly  passed  over  the 
veto.  Congress  was  no  longer  in  a  submissive  mood. 

It  was  next  determined  to  put  the  Civil  Rights  bill  into  the 
form  of  a  constitutional  amendment,  where  its  principles  would 
be  permanent  and  safe  from  violation.  The  Four- 
teenth  Amendment  was  therefore  agreed  upon  and 
offered  to  the  States  (June,  1866)  for  adoption. 
It  declared  that  "  all  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United 
States,  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of 
the  United  States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside".  It 
declared  that  no  State  should  make  or  enforce  any  law  abridg 
ing  the  "privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens  of  the 

Its  first  section.   _ 

United  States  ,  or  deprive  any  person  of     life, 
liberty,  or  property  without  due  process  of  law",  or  deny  to 
any  person  "the  equal  protection  of  the  laws".    The  Republi 
cans  saw  that  by  the  freeing  of  the  blacks  they  had  actually 
increased  the  political  strength  of  the  Southern  States,  because 
the  three-fifths  rule1  would  no  longer  apply,  but  all  the  negroes 
would  be  counted  in  determining  the  representative  population. 
JSome  were  desirous  of  giving  the  negroes  the  suffrage  imme 
diately  by  National  act.     Others  hesitated.    All, 
ection°.n  however,  desired  to  prevent  the  Southern  States 

from  reaping  this  political  advantage  from  eman 
cipation,  unless  they  allowed  the  blacks  to  vote.  It  was  there 
fore  decided  that,  if  the  negroes  were  not  given  the  suffrage  by 
a  State  voluntarily,  they  should  not  be  counted  in  determining 
the  basis  of  representation.  For  these  reasons  the  second  sec 
tion  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  was  added,  providing  that 
if  the  right  to  vote  were  denied  to  any  of  the  male  inhabitants 
of  a  State,  being  twenty-one  years  of  age  and  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  or  in  any  way  abridged,  except  as  punishment 

1  See  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  ii,  §  3. 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION      439 

for  crime,  the  basis  of  representation  should  "be  reduced  in  the 
proportion  which  the  number  of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear 
to  the  whole  number  of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age 
in  such  State  ".  The  amendment  also  provided  for  excluding 
from  Federal  and  State  office  the  most  prominent 
section?  persons  engaged  in  the  war  against  the  Govern 

ment  until  such  disability  were  removed  by  Con 
gress.    It  was  expressly  stated  that  the  validity  of  the  National 
debt   should  not  be   questioned,   but  the  debts 
section  incurred  in  and  for  the  rebellion  should  not  be 

assumed  by  the  " United  States  or  any  State". 

Such  was  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  by  far  the  greatest 

change  made  in  the  Constitution  since  its  adoption.     There 

was  some  difficulty,  as  we  shall  see,  in  securing 

it  made  radical  fa  ratification,  the  Southern  States  refusing  to 

changes  in  the  .  ,    .     r  _       .. 

Constitution.  accept  it;  two  years  passed  before  it  was  finally 
ratified  (1868),  but  we  may  notice  at  this  time 
how  it  modified  the  Constitution  when  once  it  became  a  part 
of  the  fundamental  law.  Before  this  amendment  was  passed 
the  subject  of  suffrage  was  solely  a  State  affair,  as  lorig  as  the 
State  had  a  " republican  form  of  government".  So,  too,  the 
State  had  complete  control  over  its  citizens  and  could  be  as 
tyrannical  as  it  saw  fit,  provided  that  it  did  not  interfere  with 
the  relations  between  a  person  and  the  National  Government 
or  violate  the  few  express  prohibitions  in  the  National  Consti 
tution.  By  this  amendment  the  nation  intervened  to  protect 
the  citizen  of  the  State  against  unjust  legislation  or  action  of  a 
State.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  the  situation  had  entirely  altered 
from  what  it  was  in  1788-90.  Then  it  was  thought  necessary 
to  shield  the  citizen  from  the  possible  tyranny  of  the  National 
Government,  and  to  this  end  the  first  ten  amendments  were 
adopted. 

Meanwhile  the  controversy  between  the  President  and 
Congress  waxed  hotter.  Johnson  vetoed  the  most  impor*- 
tant  bills,  and  Congress  passed  them  over  his  veto.  In  this 
way,  in  the  course  of  a  year,  the  most  essential  measures 
were  made  law  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  con- 


440  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

gressional   idea  of    "reconstructing    the    Southern    States". 
In    spite    of   the   President's    objections,   a   measure   known 

as    the   Freedmen's    Bureau    bill,   providing   for 
"*     ^e  re^  and  assistance  to  the  Southern  negroes, 

became  law.    Nebraska  at  this  time  was  admitted 

to  the  Union. 

In  March,  1867,  Congress  passed  the  Civil  Tenure  bill. 
This  provided  that  a  person  appointed  to  office  by  the  President 

and  approved  by  the  Senate  should  hold  office  till 
OfficeJet.  another  person  was  appointed  to  the  position  with 

approval  of  the  Senate,  and  that  members  of  the 
Cabinet  should  hold  office  for  the  term  of  the  President  appoint 
ing  them  and  one  month  thereafter,  "  subject  to  removal  by 
and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate ".  An  officer 
might,  however,  be  suspended  while  the  Senate  was  not  in  session, 
and  the  place  given  for  the  time  being  to  some  other  person.1 

During  the  fall  and  winter  (1866-67)  the  Southern  States, 
perhaps  encouraged  by  the  quarrel  between  Johnson  and  his 

party,  rejected  the  Fourteenth  Amendment.  As 
reconstruction.  a  consequence  new  reconstruction  measures  were 

determined  upon  and  duly  enacted.  Congress 
provided  for  the  division  of  the  South  into  five  military  districts, 
each  to  be  in  the  charge  of  a  general  aided  by  "a  sufficient 

1  By  this  time  there  was  much  ill  feeling  on  both  sides.  The  "radicals" 
of  the  Republican  party  detested  Johnson  and  were  determined  to  have 
their  own  way.  Pupils  are  often  perplexed  by  the  difficulty  of  seeing  what 
the  trouble  really  was  about;  such  is  often  the  case  when  we  look  back  upon 
times  of  bitter  controversy.  The  "radicals"  disliked  the  "rebel"  and  all 
his  works.  These  were  the  stern  men  who  had  lived  through  the  experiences 
of  the  war.  Thaddeus  Stevens,  the  radical  leader  in  the  House,  was  espe 
cially  hard  and  bitter.  He  believed  that  since  the  South  had  raised  the  cup 
of  secession  to  her  lips,  she  should  be  made  to  drink  it  to  the  dregs,  and  the 
Southern  States  should  be  allowed  to  send  men  to  Congress  as  soon  as  Con 
gress  was  ready  to  receive  them  and  not  before;  in  the  meantime  they 
should  be  treated  as  conquered  territories.  Johnson,  in  his  tactless  way, 
insisted  that  the  Southern  States  had  rights;  and,  though  at  first  feeling 
bitterness  toward  the  South,  he  became  daily  more  considerate,  much  to 
the  disgust  of  the  radicals,  so  that  Stevens  and  the  great  bulk  of  the 
Republicans,  hated  the  President  lustily.  In  all  such  matters  it  is  difficult 
to  see  just  where  exact  justice  lay.  Men  were  too  excited  to  see  justice. 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION      441 

military  force ".  This  officer  was  to  keep  order  and  to  have 
wide  powers  of  government.  Under  his  guidance  a  State  was  to 
elect  a  convention,  adopt  a  constitution  granting  the  suffrage 
to  blacks  and  whites  alike,  and  ratify  through  its  legislature 
the  Fourteenth  Amendment.  When  this  was  done  and  ap 
proved,  the  State  was  to  be  allowed  representation  in  Congress. 
In  the  summer  of  this  year  (1867)  Johnson  requested  the 
resignation  of  Stanton,  his  Secretary  of  War.  The  two  men 
were  incompatible,  and  Stanton  had  long  been 
hostile  to  Johnson  and  his  policy.  He  refused 
to  resign,  and  Johnson  suspended  him.  When 
the  Senate  met  it  refused  to  agree  to  this  suspension.  The 
President  then  removed  Stanton  from  office.  The  ill  feeling 
was  now  so  great  that  the  Republicans  determined  to  resort 
to  impeachment  to  get  rid  of  their  obnoxious  executive.  In 
March,  1868,  articles  of  impeachment  were  presented  by  the 
House  at  the  bar  of  the  Senate,  the  chief  charge  being  violation 
of  the  Tenure  of  Office  act  by  the  removal  of  Stanton.  The 
trial  lasted  nearly  two  months.  Chief  Justice  Chase  presided 
with  dignity  and  impartiality.  The  ceremony  was  watched 
with  interest  and  curiosity  in  America  and  Europe.  The  result 
of  the  trial  was  acquittal,  for  the  majority  lacked  one  vote  of 
the  necessary  two  thirds.  Seven  Republican  senators,  believ 
ing  that  the  President  should  be  entitled  to  remove  his  subor 
dinates  and  not  sympathizing  with  the  intense  and  bitter  par 
tisanship  of  the  radicals,  voted  against  conviction.  It  is  now 
generally  believed  that  impeachment  was  unwise  and  that  con 
viction  would  have  been  unjust. 

Before  the  end  of  1868  most  of  the  States  were  fully  re 
established  in  their  constitutional  relations  or  "readmitted  to 
the  Union".     Provision  had  been  made  for  the 

States  are 

"reconstructed"  admission  of  Tennessee  soon  after  the  close  of  the 
by  congressional  war.  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Florida, 
Alabama,  Louisiana,  and  Arkansas  were  admitted 
to  representation  in  Congress  in  1868.  Seward  was  enabled  to 
announce,  July  28,  1868,  that  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  had 
become  part  of  the  Constitution. 


442  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

The  Southern  States  during  these  years  and  for  some  time 
afterward  were  in  an  unfortunate  condition.  The  more  influ 
ential  white  men  were  kept  out  of  office  by  the 
congressional  policy  because  they  had  taken  part 
in  the  war.  This  left  the  control  of  the  conven 
tion  and  the  legislature,  when  once  civil  government  was  estab 
lished,  to  the  more  ignorant  white  people  and  to  the  negroes, 
who  had  no  fitness  for  the  difficult  tasks  that  needed  attention. 
Men  from  other  States  came  upon  the  scene  and  became  political 
leaders,  taking  advantage  of  the  ignorant  blacks  to  win  for 
themselves  power  and  influence.  These  men  were  called  "  car 
pet-baggers".  The  governments  set  up  under  their  direction 
were  incompetent  and  woefully  corrupt.  Doubtless  some  of 
the  Northern  men  who  went  to  the  South  at  this  time  were 
neither  corrupt  nor  influenced  by  unworthy  motives,  but  so 
many  were  merely  unscrupulous  adventurers,  quite  devoid  of 
principle,  that  all  were  called  "carpet-baggers"  and  looked  upon 
with  suspicion.  The  Southern  people  were  in  their  turn  intoler 
ant,  and  occasionally  guilty  of  outrages  against  Northern  men. 
The  ill  feeling  between  the  sections,  therefore,  had  as  yet  dimin 
ished  little,  if  at  all.  The  white  people  under  negro  and  "car 
pet-bag"  rule  were  bitter  hi  their  hatred  of  Republican  recon 
struction,  while  every  month  seemed  to  harden  the  Northern 
leaders  in  the  belief  that  the  "ex-rebels"  were  not  to  be  trusted. 
Several  difficult  and  interesting  foreign  questions  arose  dur 
ing  Johnson's  administration.  Soon  after  the  beginning  of  our 
civil  war  France  had  sent  troops  into  Mexico, 

Foreign  affairs.  .  .. 

overthrown  the  republican  government  there,  and 
established  an  empire,  with  Maximilian,  an  archduke  of  Austria, 
as  emperor.  During  the  war  Seward  had  cautiously  protested; 
but  now  that  there  was  peace  at  home,  France  was  given  very 
distinctly  to  understand  that  the  presence  of  her  troops  in 
Mexico  was  obnoxious  to  the  United  States.  Our  Government 
has  for  many  decades  held  the  opinion  that  European  countries 
must  not  extend  their  systems  in  this  hemisphere  against  the 
will  and  wish  of  the  American  Union.1  Upon  receiving  the  per- 

1The  Monroe  Doctrine. 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION       443 

emptory  demand  from  Seward,  Napoleon  III  withdrew  his 
army.  The  luckless  Maximilian,  left  to  his  fate,  was  captured 
by  Mexican  troops,  tried  by  court  martial,  and  shot. 

In  1867  the  United  States  bought  Alaska  from  Russia  for 

$7,200,000.    This  purchase  added  531,409  square  miles  to  the 

National  domain.     In  the  eighty  years  that  had 

purchase.  elapsed  since  the  formation  of  the  constitution  the 

territory  of  the  Union  had  increased  fourfold.     In 

1787  it  was  819,815  square  miles.    After  the  purchase  of  Alaska 

it  was  3,501,509  square  miles.1 

No  less  important  than  other  events  of  this  stormy  admin 
istration  was  the  final  laying  of  the  Atlantic  cable.  In  the 
The  Atlantic  summer  of  1 866  the  cable  was  laid  and  used.  The 
cable.  commercial  and  political  importance  of  this  frail 

connection  between  America  and  Europe  can  hardly  be  over 
estimated.  Trade  was  put  on  a  new  basis,  for  the  condition  of 
the  European  markets  could  be  read  in  New  York  each  morning. 
The  political  relations  between  the  Old  and  the  New  World 
were  simplified. 

For  the  election  of  1868  General  Grant  seemed  the  only 
possible  candidate  for  the  Republicans.  The  party  contained 
many  able  leaders  with  far  more  political  expe- 
^86e8electl°  E  rience,  but  he  was  the  center  of  interest  and  at 
tention.  The  quiet,  relentless  determination  with 
which  he  had  carried  on  the  war  had  completely  captured  the 
public  imagination.  He  was  unanimously  nominated  on  the 
first  ballot  in  the  convention,  amid  great  demonstrations  of 
enthusiasm.  Schuyler  Colfax,  of  Indiana,  was  nominated  for 
the  vice-presidency.  The  platform  congratulated  the  country 
on  the  success  of  the  reconstruction  policy  of  Congress;  it 
pledged  the  party  to  maintain  equal  suffrage  for  all  loyal  men; 
it  denounced  Andrew  Johnson  and  his  methods,  and  promised 
the  payment  of  military  bounties  and  pensions  and  full  payment 
of  the  National  debt.  The  Democrats  nominated  Horatio 
Seymour,  of  New  Yofli,  and  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  of  Missouri. 

1  These  figures  are  somewhat  differently  given  by  different  authorities. 
The  United  Stafes  census  gives  the  total  area,  without  Alaska,  as  3,025,601. 


444  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

The  platform  demanded  immediate  restoration  of  all  the  States 
to  their  rights  in  the  Union,  amnesty  for  all  political  offenses, 
economy  and  reform  in  office.  It  arraigned  "the  Radical 
party"  for  its  "unparalleled  oppression  and  tyranny",  appealed 
to  all  patriots  to  unite  in  the  "great  struggle  for  the  liberties 
of  the  people",  and  declared  that  Johnson  was  "entitled  to  the 
gratitude  of  the  whole  American  people".  The  result  of  the 
election  was  at  no  time  doubtful.  There  was  great  enthusiasm 
for  Grant  at  the  North,  while  at  the  South  the  electoral  vote 
was  in  nearly  every  State  cast  for  the  Republican  candidate, 
because  the  freedmen  were  all  of  that  party,  and  many  of  the 
white  men  were  not  allowed  to  vote.  Grant  received  two  hun 
dred  and  fourteen  electoral  votes  and  Seymour  eighty. 

Before  closing  the  account  of  Johnson's  administration  we 
should  notice  that  something  had  been  done  to  reduce  the  im 
mense  war  debt,  and  that  the  nation  was  in  many 
Pr°  ways  prosperous.  The  highest  point  that  the  debt 
ever  reached  was  in  the  summer  of  1865,  when  it 
amounted  to  the  enormous  total  of  $2,844,649,626,  a  burden  of 
$84  on  each  person  in  the  United  States.  In  1869  it  amounted 
to  $64.43  per  capita.  The  nation  showed  remarkable  powers 
of  recuperation,  after  the  long  and  destructive  war. 

When  Grant1  took  the  presidential  chair  he  was  met  with 
difficulties.  The  times  were  trying  ones.  One  can  hardly 

1  General  Grant  was  at  this  time  almost  entirely  without  political  expe 
rience  and  without  training  in  civil  duties.  He  was  a  graduate  of  West 
Point,  and  had  served  with  distinction  in  the  Mexican  War.  At  the  out 
break  of  the  rebellion  he  occupied  a  humble  position  as  a  private  citizen. 
His  success  as  a  general  gave  him  world-wide  reputation,  and  he  was  hailed 
by  the  enthusiastic  North  as  the  savior  of  his  country.  He  was  a  man  of 
strict,  unswerving  honesty,  and  of  pure  motives.  He  was  direct  and  inci 
sive  in  his  methods  of  thought  and  action.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  his 
talents,  that  so  well  fitted  him  for  conducting  a  great  aggressive  war,  were 
equally  well  adapted  to  the  no  less  difficult  tasks  of  peace.  Downright 
and  upright  himself,  he  was  not  always  successful  in  winning  and  holding 
the  best  men  of  his  party  by  giving  them  frank  confidence;  nor  did  he  have 
great  insight  into  the  weaknesses  of  the  men  about  him.  These  character 
istics  account,  in  part,  for  some  of  the  difficulties  of  his  administration. 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION       445 

magine  greater  or  more  troublesome  tasks  than  those  confront- 
ng  the  American  Government  in  these  years.  The  people 
were  undoubtedly  showing  a  remarkable  capacity 
Je  time.8  °  ^or  self -government  and  self-restraint.  They  sub 
mitted  quietly  to  the  payment  of  enormous  taxes; 
hey  were  honestly  and  without  ostentation  bent  upon  paying 
he  great  war  debt  with  all  reasonable  speed.  A  million  soldiers 
vho  had  been  quietly  absorbed  into  the  peaceful  community 
eemed  to  have  forgotten  military  arts  or  ambition.  And  yet 
he  period  was  full  of  difficulties.  There  were  grave  interna- 
ional  questions  to  be  settled,  and  internal  problems  that  called 
or  wise  solution.  Not  till  about  1871  were  all  the  Southern 
>tates  in  possession  of  their  full  constitutional  rights,  with  the 
ight  to  send  senators  and  representatives  to  Congress,  and  even 
vhen  politically  "reconstructed"  they  were  of  course  internally 
.till  in  some  confusion.  Moreover,  the  North  continued  to 
:eep  troops  in  the  South,  a  source  of  continual  humiliation  to 
he  Southern  people.  A  reconstruction  of  sentiment  between 
^orth  and  South  could  come  only  in  the  course  of  years,  as  the 
esult  of  generous  fair-mindedness  in  the  one  section  and  sensible 
,elf-control  in  the  other.  In  many  ways  the  war  had  brought 
lisorganization  into  the  National  Government;  the  details  of 
idministration,  which  are  of  the  utmost  importance  in  time  of 
>eace,  could  not  be  carefully  watched  and  guided  in  time  of  a 
;reat  civil  war.  Furthermore,  the  war  had  had  a  demoralizing 
nfluence  in  some  respects.  It  is  true  that  it  called  forth  patri- 
>tism  and  stirred  men's  hearts  to  lofty  motives;  no  war  that  is 
vaged  for  country  and  to  free  millions  of  human  beings  from 
lavery  can  be,  on  the  whole,  bad  in  its  effects  on  the  moral  make- 
ip  of  the  nation.  But  war  is  brutal,  and  its  brutality  is  apt  to 
eave  the  curse  of  selfishness  and  greed  behind  it.  The  great 
nass  of  the  people  were  honest  and  moral;  but  the  troublesome 
ime  of  war  encouraged  some  men  to  believe  that  it  was  legiti- 
nate  to  take  advantage  of  the  Government  and  to  get  rich  by 
tealth  at  the  public  expense. 

Scarcely  had   the  'Fourteenth   Amendment  been   adopted, 
rtien  the  Republicans   decided  that   negro  suffrage  must  be 


446 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


secured  and  not  left  to  the  option  of  the  States;  for  that  Amend 
ment,  it  will  be  remembered,  allowed  the  States 'to  determine 

for  themselves  what  the  basis  of  suffrage  should 
Amendment  be;  if  the  right  -  to  vote  were  denied  to  any  of 

the  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  old,  or  in  any 
way  abridged,  the  basis  of  representation  in  Congress  might 
be  cut  down. l  With  the  intent  to  make  negro  suffrage  every- 


[From  100  to  200 

"       50  «  100 

«       25  «    50 

10  "    25 

Less  than  10 


In  the  Diet,  of  Columbia 

there  are  2105  inhabitants 

to  the  sq.  mile. 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  POPULATION  IN  1870 

where  obligatory  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  was  drawn  up 
and  submitted  to  the  States  for  adoption.  It  declared:  "The 
right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be  de 
nied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State  on 
account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude". 
Secretary  Fish  announced,  March  30,  1870,  that  it  had  "be 
come  valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  part  of  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States". 

The  acceptance  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  as  part  of  the 
fundamental  law  of  the  nation  did  not  do  away  with  the  troubles 

1  The  Fifteenth  Amendment  did  not  repeal  the  second  section  of  the 
Fourteenth;  but  the  second  section  has  never  been  enforced. 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION       447 

and  distress  that  grew  out  of  the  rebellion.     The  corruption  of 

the  carpet-bag  governments,  built  on  negro  suffrage,  was  proof 

enough  that  slavery  had  been  a  poor  schoolmaster 

Ct°rreptir  in      for  freedom.     Some  of  the  blacks  quickly  learned 

the  Southern  * 

states.  the  vices  of  politics,  and  showed  remarkable  apti 

tude  in  the  art  of  reaping  personal  advantage  from 
office.  The  States  that  had  been  impoverished  by  four  years 
of  war  were  plundered  ruthlessly;  enormous  debts  were  rolled 
up  by  extravagant  and  dishonest  legislation.  In  South  Caro 
lina,  where  negro  rule  long  prevailed  because  of  the  great  number 
of  blacks,  the  debt  increased  from  about  $5,500,000  in  1868  to 
over  $20,000,000  in  1873.  Some  other  States  suffered  almost 
as  much. 

The  Southern  whites  determined  that  negro  rule  must  be 
ended  by  some  means,  lawful  or  unlawful.  It  seemed  to  them 
a  matter  of  self-preservation.  This  feeling  is  well 
wPefbT t0  illustrated  by  tne  statement  of  a  citizen  of  South 
government.  Carolina  i  "  To  take  the  State  ...  away  from  the  in 
telligent  white  men  and  hand  it  over  bodily  to  igno 
rant  negroes  just  escaped  from  slavery  .  .  .  was  nothing  less 
than  flat  burglary  on  the  theory  and  practice  of  representative 
government " .  In  some  of  the  S  tates  the  negroes  were  in  a  minor 
ity ;  and  where  that  was  the  case  the  government  soon  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  white  people  as  a  simple  result  of  united  action 
on  their  part.  In  other  places,  however,  deplorable  methods 
were  adopted.  The  poorer  and  more  ignorant  white  men,  who 
had  been  reared  amid  the  degrading  influences  of  slavery,  could 
not  appreciate  that  the  negro  had  rights  that  they  were  bound 
to  respect.  The  luckless  blacks  were  harassed  and  harried.  An 
oath-bound  order  under  the  name  of  the  Ku-Klux-Klan,  throw 
ing  a  veil  of  secrecy  and  mystery  over  all  its  doings,  appeared 
here  and  there  throughout  the  South,  terrorizing  the  supersti 
tious  negro  and  overwhelming  him  with  awe  and  dread.  It  is 
difficult  from  any  evidence  that  we  have  to  determine  the  exact 
origin  or  extent  of  the  Ku-Klux  movement.  To  Northern  men 
it  seemed  that  the  whole  South  was  conspiring  to  make  national 
law  inoperative,  and  to  rob  the  negro  of  his  rights.  It  was  some 


448  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

years  before  the  lawlessness  and  violence  were  stamped  out. 
The  intelligent  people  of  the  South  finally  united  in  efforts  to 
put  down  this  open  violence  and  to  establish  order,  for  they  saw 
that  there  was  a  direct  issue  between  law  and  anarchy. 

Because  of  these  conditions  in  the  South,  Congress  under 
took  to  pass  repressive  measures.  A  series  of  acts,  known  as 
•'Force bills".  "force  bills",  were  passed  (1870-72),  the  pur 
poses  of  which  were  the  protection  of  the  negro 
in  his  new  privileges  and  rights.  The  President  was  given  au 
thority  to  suppress  insurrection,  whenever  the  State  officers 
were  unable  or  unwilling  to  do  so,  and  was  also  authorized,  for 
a  limited  time,  to  suspend  the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus.  The  federal  courts  were  assigned  wide  jurisdiction  over 
cases  in  which  persons  claimed  they  had  been  deprived  of  rights, 
privileges,  or  immunities  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  These  measures  were  deeply  resented  at  the  South. 
The  Southerners  felt  ready  to  manage  their  own  affairs;  and, 
in  fact,  realizing  the  danger  of  tumult,  were  already  moving  to 
suppress  disorder.  For  some  time  after  this  it  seemed  to  the 
President  necessary  to  use  the  Federal  troops  in  order  to  secure 
free  and  fair  elections  in  the  Southern  States. 

From  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion  and  the  acknowledgment 
by  Great  Britain  of  the  belligerency  of  the  Confederacy  our  rela 
tions  with  that  country  had  been  somewhat 
trouble?  *  strained.  Upon  Grant's  accession  there  were  se 
rious  difficulties  that  demanded  immediate  settle 
ment.  Our  Government  asserted  that  England  had  not  done 
her  duty  as  a  neutral;  that  it  was  her  duty  to  use  diligence  in  an 
effort  to  prevent  the  arming  or  equipping  of  any  armed  vessel 
within  her  limits,  and  to  prevent  the  departure  of  such  a  vessel 
to  cruise  against  the  commerce  of  a  friendly  nation;  that  like 
wise  a  belligerent  should  not  be  permitted  to  make  use  of  neutral 
ports  as  bases  of  naval  operation  or  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
military  supplies;  and  that  Great  Britain  had  been  remiss  in  its 
duty,  inasmuch  as  the  Alabama  and  other  Confederate  cruisers 
had  been  fitted  out  in  English  harbors  to  prey  upon  American 
commerce  even  after  the  ministry  had  been  given  fair  warning 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION      449 

as  to  the  character  and  purpose  of  the  vessels.  We  insisted, 
therefore,  that  damages  should  be  paid  for  the  resulting 
injuries. 

Fortunately  the  two  countries  were  wise  enough  not  to  make 

more  havoc  by  fighting  over  their  differences.     In  1871  a  treaty 

between  the  two  powers  was  signed  at  Washington. 

The  Treaty  of  •        **.  r  j  •  u     TJMU          v 

Washington.       agreeing  that  all  matters  of  dispute  should  be  sub 
mitted  to  arbitration.     The  Alabama  claims  were 

to  be  passed  upon  by  a  court  of  five  arbitrators  appointed  by 

Great  Britain,  the  United    States,   Italy,    Switzerland,    and 

Brazil. 

This  tribunal  met  at  Geneva,  Switzerland,  and  made  a  care 

ful  examination  of  the  whole  controversy.     The  American  Gov 
ernment  contended  that  our  losses  included  more 


award  6neVa       than  ^e  actua^  destruction  of  merchantmen  and 
1871-72.  cargoes;  they  included  heavy  national  expendi 

tures  in  the  pursuit  of  the  cruisers  and,  moreover, 
"  indirect  injury  in  the  transfer  of  a  large  part  of  the  American 
commercial  marine  to  the  British  flag,  in  the  enhanced  pay 
ments  of  insurance,  in  the  prolongation  of  the  war,  and  in  the 
addition  of  a  large  sum  to  the  cost  of  the  war  and  the  suppres 
sion  of  the  rebellion".  The  arbitrators  refused  to  allow  com 
pensation  for  the  more  indirect  or  remote  damages,  but  awarded 
to  the  United  States  $15,500,000  in  gold  as  an  indemnity  to  be 
paid  by  Great  Britain  in  satisfaction  for  all  claims. 

By  the  Treaty  of  Washington  it  was  also  agreed  to  leave  to 

the  Emperor  of  Germany  as  arbitrator  the  settlement  of  a  dis 

pute  over  the  Northwestern  boundary.     In  1846 

Northwestern      ^  jme  between  the  American  and  British  posses- 

boundary  and       . 

the  fisheries.      sions  had  been  defined  as  following  along  the  forty- 

ninth  parallel  "  to  the  middle  of  the  channel  which 
separates  the  continent  from  Vancouver's  Island;  and  thence 
southerly  through  the  middle  of  the  said  channel  and  of  Fuca's 
Straits  to  the  Pacific  Ocean".  A  question  had  arisen  as  to 
where  the  middle  of  the  channel  was.  The  German  Emperor 
decided  in  favor  of  the  claim  made  by  the  United  States.  The 
Treaty  of  Washington  made  provision  for  the  settlement  of  dif- 
30 


450  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

ficulties  that  had  arisen  concerning  the  Northeastern  fisheries. 
In  1877  a  commission  met  in  Halifax  and  awarded  to  England 
the  sum  of  $5,500,000. 

It  was  plain  by  this  time  that  to  compel  the  Southern  people 

to  observe  the  new  amendments  to  the  Constitution  fully  vvas 

a  difficult  if  not  an  impossible  task.     To  accom- 

Differences  in     p}isn  anything  by  force,  constant  armed  interven- 

the  Republican       .  .  _. 

party.  tion  was  a  necessity.     But  many  felt  that  the 

Government  had  already  gone  too  far;  that  the 
only  sensible  course  was  to  leave  the  South  alone;  that  as  long 
as  Federal  troops  were  stationed  there  Southern  resentment 
would  continue  in  all  its  bitterness,  and  that  the  people  could 
never  be  won  back  to  affectionate  loyalty  by  main  force.  They 
felt  that  the  fundamental  principle  of  local  self-government  was 
being  dangerously  disregarded.  Some  Republicans  had  become 
antagonistic  to  Grant  personally.  They  believed  that  he  had 
shown  rare  incapacity  for  civil  duties,  and  that  he  was  surround 
ed  by  men  who  were  greedy  if  not  corrupt.  A  division  in  the 
Republican  party  was  likely  to  come  sooner  or  later,  because  it 
was  in  reality  a  composite  party,  made  up  of  men  who  were  not 
apt  to  think  alike  on  many  questions.  When  once  the  great 
task  of  carrying  on  the  war  was  over,  the  different  elements  in 
the  party  began  to  show  their  natural  tendencies. 

The  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  existing  conditions 
showed  itself  in  the  Liberal  Republican  movement  of  1872. 
The  men  who  became  interested  in  it  were  those 
Republicans  Republicans  who  found  themselves  out  of  sym 
pathy  with  the  administration,  out  of  patience 
with  the  management  of  Southern  matters,  and  eager  for  "re 
form"  in  civil  office.  Many,  too,  wished  a  reduction  of  tariff 
duties  and  other  economic  changes.  A  national  convention 
held  at  Cincinnati  nominated  Horace  Greeley,  of  New  York, 
for  President,  and  B.  Gratz  Brown,  of  Missouri,  for  Vice-Presi- 
dent.  A  platform  was  adopted  charging  "the  partisans  of  the 
administration  assuming  to  be  the  Republican  party  "  with  ar 
bitrary  and  unpatriotic  conduct  toward  the  South,  and  with 
selfish  and  unscrupulous  use  of  power.  The  new  party  demanded 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION       451 

immediate  reform  in  public  office  and  the  re-establishment  of 
civil  rule  without  military  interference  in  the  Southern  States. 
The  Democrats,  having  no  issue  to  present,  found  them 
selves  fairly  well  in  accord  with  the  principles  of  the  Liberal 
Republicans.     The  platform  and  candidates  were 

The  Democrats.     ,          .  _.  ,T      . 

therefore  accepted  by  the  Democratic  National 
Convention.  A  few  Democrats  found  it  impossible  to  accept 
the  nomination  of  Greeley,  who  had  been  for  years  an  ardent, 
enthusiastic  Republican,  given  to  the  use  of  very  plain  language 
in  his  condemnation  of  the  Democracy.  This  faction  placed  a 
straight  Democratic  ticket  in  the  field;  but  the  movement  was  of 
no  avail,  inasmuch  as  the  nominees  refused  to  be  candidates. 

The  Republicans  renominated  Grant,  and  gave  the  second 
place  on  the  ticket  to  Henry  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts.     Many 

persons  were  still  fearful  of  any  backward  step  in 
Grant  fae  management  of  the  Southern  question.  There 

renominated  _ ^ 

and  elected.  was  a  strong  feeling,  too,  that  Greeley  was  unfit 
for  the  presidency.  A  high-minded,  honest  man, 
with  strong  purposes  and  noble  aims,  he  was  impractical  and  vis 
ionary.  He  was  in  his  place  when  he  was  appealing  to  the  na 
tion's  conscience,  or  discussing  in  racy,  telling  phrases  the  moral 
duties  of  government.  But  he  had  almost  no  experience  in 
public  office,  and  was  without  aptitude  for  the  duties  of  admin 
istration.  Grant  and  Wilson  were  elected  by  an  overwhelming 
majority.  Greeley  died  before  the  presidential  electors  met  to 
cast  their  ballots. 

Grant's  second  administration  was  not  very  eventful,  nor 

does  it  differ  in  character  materially  from  the  first.    Some  of  the 

troubles  that  had  arisen  from  the  rebellion  had 

JUrttof^1*     Passed  awa7-     Some  of  the  great  problems  had 
remains.  been  solved,  but  much  still  remained  to  be  done. 

The  Southern  question  was  still  a  pressing  one. 
How  far  should  the  Southern  States  be  allowed  to  manage 
elections  and  all  internal  affairs  without  molestation  from  the 
Central  Government?  This  was  the  difficult  problem  of  the 
time.  The  Republican  party  was,  on  the  whole,  in  favor  of 
keeping  such  control  that  the  amendments  could  be  enforced 


452  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

throughout  the  South.  But  the  country  was  in  reality  growing 
weary  of  interference  and  longing  for  quiet. 

In  a  number  of  the  Southern  States,  as  we  have  seen,  the 
Government  had  already  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Demo 
cratic  party.  Where  that  was  the  case  there  was 
intervention.  little  trouble,  but  the  amendments  were  more  or 
less  evaded.  Where  Republican  governments 
held  power  great  disturbance  and  unending  controversy  pre 
vailed.  Disputes  often  arose  over  the  action  of  the  returning 
boards,  whose  duty  it  was  to  canvass  the  votes  and  report  the 
results.  The  Democrats  declared  that  the  boards  were  illegally 
made  up,  or  that  they  fraudulently  " counted  out"  the  Demo 
cratic  candidates.  The  Republicans  charged  their  opponents 
with  endeavoring  by  violence  and  intimidation  to  suppress  the 
negro  vote.  When  such  quarrels  broke  out  the  President  would 
send  troops  to  quiet  disturbances  and  to  establish  authority; 
but  he  grew  tired  of  the  continuing  disorder.1 

A  very  noticeable  feature  of  those  years  was  the  number  of 
political  scandals  that  came  to  light  in  the  National  Government. 

.  In  1872  it  was  publicly  charged  that  prominent 

'  Republican  officeholders  had  taken  bribes  from  a 
company  known  as  the  Credit  Mobilier.2  An  investigation 
was  made  into  all  the  charges,  and  resulted  in  finding  clear  proof 
of  the  guilt  of  two  congressmen,  one  of  whom  had  been  the  com 
pany's  chief  instrument  for  furthering  its  interests  by  under 
hand  and  corrupt  methods.  The  investigating  committee  rec 
ommended  the  expulsion  of  these  men,  but  the  House  contented 

1  The  situation  in  Louisiana  was  especially  bad.    The  Constitution  pro 
vides  (art.  iv,  sec.  4)  that '  'the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State 
in  this  Union  a  republican  form  of  government. "    This  clause  furnished 
the  legal  justification  for  interference  on  the  part  of  the  National  Gov 
ernment. 

2  This  corporation  was  organized  under  a  charter  from  the  Pennsylvania 
Legislature.    It  received  through  roundabout  and  corrupt  methods  immense 
profits  for  the  construction  of  a  portion  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad. 
"The  Cr6dit  Mobilier  was,  in  short,  the  first,  greatest,  and  most  scandal 
ous  of  the  'construction  companies '  which  have  since  .  .  .  made  bankrupt 
so  many  railroad  enterprises. "    Merriam,  Life  and  Times  of  Samuel  Bowles, 
vol.  ii,  p.  225;  see  also  Dunning,  Reconstruction. 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION      453 

itself  with  "  absolute  condemnation  "  of  their  conduct.  Happily 
the  ablest  leaders  to  whom  dishonesty  had  been  imputed  were 
exonerated  by  an  examination  of  the  facts. 

Other  scandals  than  the  Credit  Mobilier  were  soon  unearthed. 
It  was  found  that  a  great  conspiracy  had  been  formed  for  the 

purpose  of  cheating  the  Government  in  the  collec- 

ti°n  °^  t*16  internal-revenue  tax  on  distilled  liquors. 

This  "whisky  ring"  included  men  high  in  power 
and  influence.  Through  the  untiring  energies  of  Mr.  Bristow, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  criminals  were  hunted  down, 
the  ring  broken  up,  and  a  number  of  the  guilty  punished. 

About  this  time  articles  of  impeachment  were  brought  by  the 
House  against  William  W.  Belknap,  the  Secretary  of  War.     He 

was  charged  with  receiving  bribes,  and  there  was 
Secretary  of  no  dOUDt  of  his  guilt.  To  escape  conviction  he 

War  impeached,  .         .  .          .    . °.  •      •    •    A* 

I876>  hastily  resigned  his  office,  and  then  denied  that 

the  Senate  had  the  right  to  consider  charges  against 
a  person  who  was  no  longer  a  "  civil  officer  of  the  United  States".1 
The  trial  was  nevertheless  begun,  but  did  not  result  in  convic 
tion.  Most  of  those  voting  in  favor  of  acquittal  said  that  they 
did  so  because  they  believed  that  the  Senate  had  no  jurisdiction. 
Just  at  the  close  of  Grant's  administration  Congress  passed 
an  act  increasing  the  salary  of  the  President,  members  of  Con* 
gress,  and  other  officers.  It  provided  that  the 
Salary  grab,  President  should  receive  fifty  thousand  dollars  in 
stead  of  half  that  sum,  as  heretofore,  and  that 
members  of  Congress  should  receive  seven  thousand  five  hun 
dred  dollars  instead  of  five  thousand  dollars.  This  Congress 
was  nearly  at  an  end,  but,  regardless  of  that  fact,  the  act  de 
clared  that  its  members  should  receive  the  increased  salary  for 
the  two  years  just  closing.  Great  indignation  was  aroused  in 
the  country  by  this  calm  appropriation  of  the  public  funds. 
Some  members  paid  back  the.  money  into  the  Treasury  to  ap 
pease  their  own  consciences  and  to  help  quiet  the  tumult.  The 
next  Congress  repealed  the  act,  save  such  portions  as  provided 
for  increased  pay  to  the  President  and  justices  of  the  Supreme 
1  See  Constitution,  art.  ii,  sec.  4. 


454  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Court.  It  must  be  said  that  previous  Congresses  had  passed 
similar  laws  and  made  them  retroactive.  But  the  people  now 
thought,  without  distinction  of  party,  that  the  "salary  grab" 
was  an  unworthy  example  of  avarice  and  greed. 

For  some  years  after  the  war  the  business  interests  of  the 
country  seemed  to  prosper.     It  was  a  period  of  great  enterprise. 

Railroads  were  built  and  extended  out  of  all  pro- 
1873!*  portion  to  the  needs  of  the  population;  all  kinds 

of  industries  appeared  to  be  thriving;  men  entered 
boldly  into  new  undertakings.  The  war  seemed  rather  to  have 
stimulated  industry  than  to  have  checked  it.  But  the  day  of 
reckoning  was  sure  to  come.  The  finances  were  not  in  a  good 
condition,  inasmuch  as  paper  money  still  circulated  and  no  law 
had  been  passed  providing  for  payment  in  specie.1  Commerce 
was  therefore  built  on  an  uncertain  foundation.  In  1873  a  great 
commercial  panic  swept  over  the  country.  Enterprise  and  wild 
speculation  were  sharply  brought  to  a  standstill.  Factories 
were  closed  and  the  usual  suffering  ensued  among  the  poorer 
people,  who  were  thus  deprived  of  means  of  livelihood.  Many 
men  seemed  to  believe  that  the  need  of  the  hour  was  more 
money,  and  Congress  passed  a  bill  for  the  increase  of  the  cur 
rency.  Grant  vetoed  the  measure,  because  he  thought  that 
such  action  simply  aggravated  the  evil.  In  1875  a  law  was 
passed  providing  for  the  redemption  of  the  "greenbacks"  in 

coin  on  the  ist  of  January,  1870.     When  that  day 

Resumption.  .  J  J '        '         .  J 

arrived  the  resumption  of  specie  payment  was, 
as  we  shall  see,  entered  upon  without  difficulty. 

The  Republicans  nominated  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  of  Ohio, 
for  the  presidency.  William  A.  Wheeler,  of  New  York,  was 

selected  for  the  vice-presidency.  The  platform 
Republican  of  fae  party  gave  no  indication  of  any  change  or 

Convention,  »ij  •  v         u    *.  •*          i  *.  c        11 

I876.  material  advance  in  policy,  but  it  spoke  out  frankly 

in  favor  of  resumption  of  specie  payment. 

lln  1869  a  bill  was  passed  known  as  a  bill  "to  strengthen  the  public 
credit",  wherein  the  United  States  "solemnly"  pledged  itself  "to  make 
provision  at  the  earliest  practicable  period  for  the  redemption  of  the  United 
States  notes  in  coin". 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION      455 

The  Democrats  nominated  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  of  New  York, 
and  Thomas  A.  Hendricks,  of  Indiana.  Tilden  was  a  man  of 
great  native  ability,  a  lawyer  of  wide  reputation 
and  skilL  As  governor  of  his  State  he  had  relent 
lessly  attacked  the  corrupt  Canal  ring  and  the 
groups  of  thieving  officials  that  were  plundering  the  treasury  of 
New  York.  The  platform  of  the  party  was  largely  made  up 
of  a  series  of  demands  for  "reform".  It  denounced  the  "finan 
cial  imbecility  and  immorality"  of  the  Republicans,  and  de 
manded  the,  repeal  of  the  Resumption  Act  of  1875. 

There  were  two  other  parties  in  this  campaign,  the  Green 
back  party  and  the  Prohibition  party.     The  former  demanded 
the  repeal  of  the  Resumption  Act,  and  declared 

Other  parties.  .  J 

themselves  in  favor  of  a  paper  currency  con 
vertible  on  demand  into  United  States  obligations".  In  other 
words,  they  did  not  want  gold  and  silver  as  money,  but  pieces 
of  paper  stamped  by  the  Government  and  issued  at  its  discretion. 
The  Prohibitionists  were  in  favor  of  making  the  liquor  traffic 
wholly  illegal. 

The  result  of  the  election  was  doubtful,  so  doubtful  that 
people  were  in  consternation  and  perplexity.    Tilden  received 
one  hundred  and  eighty-four  electoral  votes;  only 
Result  of  one  more  was  needed  to  elect  him.     From  four 

in  doubt.  States — South  Carolina,  Florida,  Louisiana,  and 

Oregon — contradictory  electoral  certificates  were 
presented,  one  set  announcing  that  Republican  electors  had 
been  chosen,  the  other  that  Democratic  electors  had  been 
chosen.  In  each  of  the  three  Southern  States  there  was  a 
returning  board,  to  which  the  results  of  the  election  from  various 
parts  of  the  State  were  reported,  and  whose  duty  it  then  was  to 
declare  the  result.  All  through  reconstruction 
times  these  boards  had  exercised  a  wide  discretion, 
for  they  were  backed  in  some  of  the  States  by 
National  troops.  They  were  wont  at  times  to  cast  out  the  votes 
of  some  precincts  on  the  ground  that  the  election  had  been 
fraudulent;  and  in  this  way  the  reconstructed  governments  had 
perpetuated  their  power.  The  Republican  State  governments 


456 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


felt  that  only  in  this  way  could  they  keep  the  Democrats  from 
gaining  control  of  the  State  by  stealth  or  violence  and  intimida 
tion.  The  temptation  for  the  returning  boards  to  use  their  un 
restricted  authority  willfully  and  corruptly  was  very  great,  and 
it  is  plain  enough  that  to  leave  the  decision  of  an  election  with  a 
group  of  men  whose  interests  prompt  them  to  defend  their  own 
authority  is  practically  to  make  popular  government  a  nullity. 
The  whole  situation  was  one  of  the  unfortunate  results  of  the 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1876 

distrust  and  ill  feeling  that  naturally  ensued  after  the  war. 
Now  in  this  election  the  Florida  and  Louisiana  returning  boards 
cast  out  the  vote  of  certain  precincts  as  tainted  with  fraud,  and 
declared  the  Republican  electors  chosen.  The  Democratic 
electors  also  obtained  certificates,  in  Florida  from  a  Democratic 
member  of  the  returning  board,  in  Louisiana  from  the  Democrat 
ic  candidate  for  governor,  who  claimed  his  own  election.  From 
South  Carolina  there  were  double  returns,  the  Democrats  claim 
ing  that  the  presence  of  Federal  troops  had  interfered  with  the 
freedom  of  the  election,  and  that  they  had  been  wrongfully 
counted  out.  In  Oregon  a  postmaster  had  been  chosen  elector, 


POLITICAL  AND  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION      457 

and  the  question  arose  as  to  whether  he  was  qualified  to  sit, 
being  a  Federal  officeholder.1 

The  situation  was  grave.     Up  to  this  time  Congress  had 
neglected  to  make  suitable  provision  for  the  settlement  of  such 

disputes  and  difficulties.  As  the  Democrats  had 
Commission^  a  majority  in  the  House  and  the  Republicans  in 

the  Senate,  it  was  clear  that  some  unusual  means 
of  solving  the  question  must  be  found.  It  is  quite  possible  that 
the  correct  legal  rule  is  that  the  Vice-President  is  given  the  duty 
of  counting  the  votes  in  the  presence  of  both  houses,  and  can 
determine  the  validity  of  the  votes  himself,  without  interference 
or  direction  from  Congress.  But  Congress  had  for  years  pro 
ceeded  on  a  different  theory,  and  had  assumed  its  own  right  to 
settle  disputes.  It  was  determined,  therefore,  that  an  extraor 
dinary  commission  should  be  appointed  and  charged  with 
determining  the  validity  of  the  votes  in  question.  The  commis 
sion  numbered  fifteen.  There  were  five  members  from  each 
house  of  Congress  and  five  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The 
hope  was  to  secure  a  commission  that  was  non-partisan.2  But 
the  chief  responsibility  was  thrown  upon  Justice  Bradley,  who 
was  chosen  by  the  other  justices  as  the  fifteenth  man.  He  voted 
with  the  Republicans,  and  the  commission  therefore  made  its 
decision  by  a  vote  of  eight  to  seven  in  favor  of  the  Hayes'  electors. 
The  basis  of  the  opinion  of  the  majority  was  that  the  findings 
of  the  returning  boards  were  final,  that  the  duty  of  the  commis 
sion  was  to  decide  what  were  the  legal  returns  from  the  States 
in  contest,  and  that  it  was  not  its  duty  to  investigate  the  merits 
of  controversies  within  the  States,  which  were  by  right  left  to 
the  local  authorities.  Thus  it  was  determined  that  Hayes  was 
elected.  Both  candidates  behaved  with  great  decorum  and  as 


1  See  the  Constitution,  art.  ii,  sec.  i,  §  2.    For  the  whole  controversy, 
Wilson,  Division  and  Reunion;  Dunning,  Reconstruction:  Political  and 
Economic,  pp.  92-108. 

2  The  Senate  appointed  three  Republicans  and  two  Democrats,,  the 
House  three  Democrats  and  two  Republicans.    Four  justices  were  appoint 
ed,  two  Republicans  and  two  Democrats.    The  four  justices  selected  the 
fifth. 


458  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

true  patriots  through  these  trying  days.  Excited  as  the  men 
of  both  parties  were,  there  was  not  much  feeling  of  uneasiness 
or  fear  in  the  country  at  large.  When  the  decision  was  an 
nounced  the  defeated  party  accepted  defeat.  This  whole  affair, 
then,  was  a  victory  for  free  government;  it  showed  that  the 
Americans  possessed  the  prime  requisite  for  self-government — 
self-control.  "It  has  been  reserved",  said  President  Hayes, 
"for  a  government  of  the  people  ...  to  give  to  the  world  the 
first  example  in  history  of  a  great  nation,  in  the  midst  of  a  strug 
gle  of  opposing  parties  for  power,  hushing  its  party  tumults  to 
yield  the  issues  of  the  contest  to  adjustment  according  to  the 
forms  of  law". 

REFERENCES 

BURGESS,  Reconstruction  and  the  Constitution;  WILSON,  Division 
and  Reunion,  pp.  254-287;  STOREY,  Sumner,  Chapters  XVIII-XXV; 
McCALL,  Stevens,  Chapters  XIII-XVI,  XVIII;  DUNNING,  Recon 
struction,  Political  and  Economic;  RHODES,  History,  Volume  V,  Chapter 
XXX;  Volumes  VI,  VII;  HA  WORTH,  Reconstruction  and  the 
pp.  i-80c 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


THE  NEW  NATION— PARTY  STRIFE— 1877-1885 

Not  much  was  known  by  the  people  at  large  of  the  real 
ability  and  character  of  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  when  he  entered 

upon  the  duties  of  the  presidency;1  but,  as  events 
Hay^01  ' *'     showed,  he  was  well  qualified  for  the  tasks  that 

met  him.  While  it  is  doubtless  true  that  he  was 
not  a  man  of  great  intellectual  brill 
iance,  he  combined  in  a  rare  degree 
mental  and  moral  qualities — firmness, 
purity  of  purpose,  wisdom,  conscien 
tiousness — qualities  that  were  spe 
cially  needed  at  a  time  when  the 
nation,  leaving  behind  it  in  large 
measure  the  memories  of  civil  con 
flict  and  sectional  hatreds,  was  ready 
to  move  on  to  new  duties  and 
achievements.  The  great  need  of 
the  day  was  quiet  bravery,  not  osten 
tatious  vigor.  The  years  were  years 
of  healing;  they  were  fortunately  un 
eventful.  When  the  next  election 
came,  it  was  felt  that  the  trouble- 

1  He  was  born  in  Ohio  and  spent  his  life  there.  Having  served  with 
distinction  in  the  civil  war,  he  was  elected,  at  its  close,  as  a  representative 
in  Congress.  In  1868  he  was  chosen  governor  of  his  State.  Again,  in  1875, 
he  was  elected  governor,  and  his  success  in  the  election  of  that  year  gave 
him  something  of  a  national  reputation.  He  was  by  nature  so  modest  and 
unpretentious  that,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  had  held  a  number  of  public 
offices  and  had  been  honored  by  the  confidence  of  his  State,  one  may  doubt 
if  even  the  people  of  Ohio  knew  him  at  his  full  value  or  appreciated  his 
strength. 

459 


460  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

some  days  of  reconstruction  were  gone;  that,  although  there 
were  jealousies  and  heartburnings  still,  North  and  South  were 
once  more  growing  together  in  national  feeling  and  spirit. 

One  of  the  President's  first  acts  was  to  withdraw  the  troops 

from  the  support  of  the  Republican  governments  in  the  Southern 

States  where  such  governments  still  retained  power. 

Withdrawal  of     jjjs  worc[s  are  so  momentous,  as  they  indicate  a 

troops  from  ..  * 

the  South.  different  policy  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  author 
ity,  that  they  deserve  quoting:  "In  my  opinion 
there  does  not  now  exist  in  that  State  [South  Carolina]  such 
domestic  violence  as  is  contemplated  by  the  Constitution  as  the 
grounds  upon  which  the  military  power  of  the  National  Gov 
ernment  may  be  invoked  for  the  defense  of  the  State.  There 
are,  it  is  true,  grave  and  serious  disputes,  .  .  .  but  these  are  to 
be  settled  ...  by  such  orderly  and  peaceable  methods  as  may 
be  provided  by  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State.  I  feel 
assured  that  no  resort  to  violence  is  contemplated  in  any  quarter, 
but  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  disputes  in  question  are  to  be 
settled  solely  by  such  peaceful  remedies  as  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws  of  the  State  provide".  So  at  length  the  Southern 
States  were  left  to  themselves.1 

With  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops  from  the  South,  the^ 

period  of  reconstruction  was  ended — so  far  as  ordinary  relations 

between  the  States  and  the  National  Government 

New  problems. 

were  concerned,  although  years  were  to  pass  be 
fore  the  South  was  to  feel  at  ease  or  forget  the  bitterness 
of  the  time  when  negroes  were  in  control  of  their  State  govern 
ments  and  Federal  troops  were  posted  here  and  there,  as  if  the 
Southerners  were  still  plotting  destruction  to  the  Union. 


1  Of  considerable  interest  are  the  new  constitutions  of  a  number  of  the 
Southern  States,  the  first  of  the  list  adopted  by  Mississippi  in  1890,  pro 
viding  new  qualifications  for  voting,  providing  for  example  that  a  voter 
must  be  able  to  read  the  Constitution  or  understand  it  when  read  to  him. 
The  "grandfather's  clause",  declaring  that  descendants  of  persons  hav 
ing  the  vote  at  or  about  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  should  have  the  suffrage, 
assures  the  retention  of  the  suffrage  by  some  whites  who  might  by  other 
terms  of  the  Constitution  be  prevented  from  voting. 


THE  NEW  NATION— PARTY  STRIFE  461 

Henceforward,  the  tasks  that  confronted  the  American  people 
were  no  longer  those  of  slavery  or  secession;  those  problems  were 
gone;  but  a  free  people  are  never  free  from  troubles  that  tax 
their  wisdom  and  patience,  (i)  The  war  had  left  the  money 
question  to  be  settled;  the  scandals  of  Grant's  administration 
showed  that  rascals  could  take  advantage  of  the  Government, 
and  rob  the  people  by  stealth;  (2)  many  politicians  of  the  day, 
backed  by  the  mass  of  the  Northern  people,  who  had  risen  to 
put  down  the  war  and  who  were  loyal  and  devoted  to  their  party, 
were  at  times  unworthy  the  trust  reposed  in  them;  (3)  great  in 
dustrial  enterprises  which  sprang  into  existence  soon  after  the 
war,  in  part  encouraged  by  tariff  protection  or  by  government 
aid,  were  bringing  on  new  problems  for  settlement;  (4)  the 
building  up  of  the  large  cities  and  the  big  factories  brought  dif 
ferences  between  laborer  and  capitalist.  For  a  generation  and 
more  social  and  industrial  problems  were  continually  becoming 
more  pressing,  and  back  of  them  all  was  the  need  for  clean  poli 
tics,  for  decent  party  management,  for  high-minded  appre 
ciation  of  duty  in  the  management  of  party  affairs. 

The  uneasiness  of  the  people  on  the  money  question  had  not 
been  put  at  rest  by  the  passage  of  the  Resumption  Act,  nor  yet 
by  the  utter  defeat  of  the  "Greenback"  ticket 
in  the  late  election.  Some  people  felt  that  recent 
legislation  on  money  matters  had  been  in  favor  of 
the  bondholders,  and  had  disregarded  the  needs  of  the  people. 
A  law  had  been  passed  in  Grant's  first  term  pledging  the  Govern 
ment  ultimately  to  pay  the  bonds  in  coin.  In  1873  silver  was 
demonetized — in  other  words,  the  United  States  mint  was  no 
longer  to  coin  silver  dollars.  The  silver  dollar  was  then  rarely 
seen  in  circulation,  because  it  was  of  more  value  than  the  gold 
dollar,  and  was  therefore  exported  to  Europe,  where  the  silver 
was  worth  more  as  bullion  than  here  as  coin.  There  was  so 
much  silver  in  it  that,  at  the  market  price  of  the  bullion,  it  was 
worth  one  dollar  and  two  cents  in  gold.  At  this  same  time  an 
act  was  passed  ordering  the  coinage  of  the  so-called  "trade 
dollar."  This  coin  was  intended  not  for  domestic  circulation, 
but  to  be  used  in  trade  with  the  Oriental  nations,  and  it  was  not 


462          HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

made  a  legal  tender.  After  1873,  however,  the  silver  mines  of 
the  country  began  to  turn  out  greatly  increased  quantities  of 
ore.  The  opening  up  of  these  mines  is  a  matter  of  great  moment 
in  our  industrial  as  well  as  in  our  financial  history,  for  the  new 
West  was  now  rapidly  building  up,  with  silver  as  a  chief  product. 
There  was  a  demand  for  the  recognition  of  this  metal  in  the 
national  coinage.  In  1878  the  Bland- Allison  Bill  was  passed  by 
Congress,  providing  for  the  remonetization  of  silver.  According 
to  the  terms  of  the  act,  the  Government  was  to  buy  each  month 
not  less  than  two  million  dollars'  worth  nor  more  than  four  mil 
lion  dollars'  worth  of  the  white  metal,  and  to  coin  this  bullion 
into  standard  dollars.  This  dollar  was  made  legal  tender,  and 
was  to  be  of  the  same  weight  and  fineness1  as  before  1873,  a^" 
though  now  silver  was  of  much  less  value  on  the  markets  of  the 
world  than  before  its  demonetization.2  President  Hayes  vetoed 
the  bill,  but  it  was  passed  over  his  veto.  Thus  ended  the  first 
important  discussion  over  the  silver  question.  A  final  solution 
of  the  problem  was  not  reached. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  need  for  resumption  of  specie 

payments  (1875);  the  land  was  still  full  of  paper  money,  and 

though  it  daily  became  more  valuable,  more  nearly 

Resumption  of    on  a  par  w[^  g^  ancj  siiver  as  the  credit  of  the 

specie  payment,  '. 

l879.  Government  grew  stronger,  it  was  necessary  to 

take  the  final  step  and  carry  out  the  plan  of  redemp 
tion.  The  country  could  not  go  on  in  uncertainty.  The  act 
of  1875  provided  for  a  return  to  specie  payments  on  the  first 
day  of  January,  1879 — providing,  in  other  words,  for  the  re 
demption  of  the  "greenbacks"  in  coin.  Preparations  were 
made,  during  the  course  of  Hayes's  administration  to  resume 
payments  on  the  day  set.  Gold  and  silver  coin  and  bullion 
were  collected  in  the  Treasury,  and  so  complete  and  thorough 

1  By  fineness  is  meant  the  purity  of  the  coin — that  is  to  say,  the  amount 
of  silver  or  gold  in  proportion  to  alloy.  The  standard  silver  dollar  con 
tains  900  parts  pure  silver  and  100  parts  copper  alloy,  and  weighs  412^ 
grains.  The  gold  coin  is  of  the  same  fineness. 

*  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  since  1870  a  number  of  the  European  states 
had  given  up  the  use  of  silver  as  a  standard  money. 


THE  NEW  NATION— PARTY  STRIFE  463 

was  the  preparation,  that  when  the  time  of  resumption  arrived 
there  were  only  a  few  straggling  demands  for  coin;  the  paper 
was  already  at  par,  for  when  people  knew  they  could  have  coin 
for  their  paper,  they  were  contented  to  take  the  paper  for 
ordinary  purposes. 

In  1879  an  interesting  controversy  arose  between  the  Presi 
dent  and  Congress.     The  intention  of  the  Democrats  in  Congress 
was  to  restrain  the  Federal  Government  from  in- 

con^sf  aTd  terfering  in  the  affairs  of  the  Southern  States,  or 
variance.  from  making  use  of  the  Federal  troops,  to  guard 

elections  or  to  protect  the  blacks.  In  February, 
1879,  the  House  passed  the  Army  Appropriation  Bill  with  a 
"rider"  directed  against  the  use  of  troops  "to  keep  peace  at  the 
polls",  and  also  passed  other  appropriation  bills  with  riders  that 
repealed  the  essential  parts  of  the  general  election  law.  The 
Senate  refused  to  pass  the  bills  and  they  did  not  become  laws. 
A  new  Congress  came  into  existence  March  4.  A  special  session 
was  summoned.  Both  branches  were  now  Democratic.  Vari 
ous  appropriation  bills  were  passed  with  riders,1  the  purpose  of 
which  was  to  curtail  the  power  of  the  General  Government  in 
its  control  over  elections.  The  Democrats  declared  that  their 
purpose  was  simply  to  erase  from  the  statute  books  the  legisla 
tion  which  the  war  had  produced,  for  which  there  was  now  no 
need,  and  which  was  an  insult  to  the  States  and  a  menace  to 
local  government.  The  Republicans,  in  irritation,  asserted  that 
the  Democrats  were  intent  upon  "starving  the  Government  to 
death."  The  President  vetoed  the  bills  with  the  riders,  saying 
that  a  rider  was  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  House  to  force 
the  other  branches  of  the  Government  to  agree  to  undesired 
legislation.  Congress  could  not  pass  the  bills  over  the  veto. 
Some  of  the  appropriations  were  then  made  without  the  rider, 
out  the  bill  providing  for  the  payment  of  the  Federal  judiciary 
was  not  passed,  and  all  the  court  officials  went  without  pay  until 

1  A  rider  is  a  clause  attached  to  an  appropriation  bill  and  referring  to  a 
different  subject  than  the  main  body  of  the  bill,  the  object  being  to  force 
the  measure  on  the  other  house  or  the  President  by  annexing  it,  or  "  tack 
ing"  it,  as  the  English  say,  to  appropriations  for  needful  purposes. 


464  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

provision  was  made  for  them  at  the  next  session.  This  contest 
between  the  President  and  Congress  is  of  much  interest.  What 
ever  one  may  think  of  the  purposes  of  the  Democrats,  Hayes 
seems  to  have  been  quite  right  in  maintaining  that  the  practice 
of  adding  riders  to  appropriation  bills  is  productive  of  much 
mischief,  and  that  if  continued  it  would  throw  nearly  all  legis 
lative  power  into  the  hands  of  the  House,  because  it  alone  can 
originate  bills  for  raising  revenue,  and  has  assumed  the  sole 
power  of  originating  general  appropriation  bills. 

As  the  election  of  1880  approached,  the  Republican  party 
seemed  to  be  in  good  condition,  and  might  reasonably  hope  for 
success,  but  there  were  serious  internal  dissensions. 
Hayes's  administration  had  been  wise,  conserva 
tive  and  honest.  The  country  was  prosperous. 
There  were  still  a  good  many  irreconcilable  paper-money-men, 
who  wished  to  have  plenty  of  money  in  circulation  and  thought 
that  coin  was  the  rich  man's  money,  but  the  resumption  of 
specie  payments  and  the  general  good  times  made  the  money 
question  a  matter  of  secondary  importance.  If  the  leaders  had 
been  united,  all  might  have  gone  on  smoothly  in  the  Republican 
ranks;  for  party  machinery,  developed  to  a  high  degree  of  effect 
iveness  during  the  previous  twenty  years,  was  masterful.  The 
party  was  backed  by  the  great  body  of  the  Northern  people, 
honest,  straightforward  and  loyal  to  the  men  who  had  led  the 
country  through  the  war  and  the  trying  days  that  followed.  It 
was  backed,  too,  by  the  business  elements,  some  of  them  at 
tracted  by  the  tariff  and  some  by  the  belief  that  the  party  stood 
for  sound  money  and  wise  business  administration. 

Party  management  and  the  use  of  party  machinery  to  win 

victories  was  no  new  thing;  there  had  long  been  committees  and 

leaders  and  workers,  but  by  1880  the  party  ma- 

machinery.         chinery  had  reached  a  high  stage  of  development. 

The  general  growth  of  the  country,  the  intense 

interest  of  the  people  in  political  controversy,  the  bitterness  of 

party  strife,  the  presence  of  business  interests  that  believed 

they  needed  party  support,  all  contributed  to  the  power  of  the 

men  who  controlled  the  party  machinery. 


THE  NEW  NATION— PARTY  STRIFE  465 

We  see  now  that  the  management  of  parties,  even  though 
the  fact  was  not  realized  by  the  men  of  the  time,  was  one  of  the 

serious  questions  which  must  be  met  and  answered, 
methods  The  mechanism  of  the  Republican  party  was  nearly 

perfect,  and  there  began  to  be  criticism  of  "ma 
chine  men"  and  "machine  methods",  by  which  conventions  in 
city,  county  or  state  could  be  controlled  by  a  handful  of  political 
workers,  and  by  which  elections  could  be  strangely  decided. 
Of  course,  the  machine  was  not  used  in  all  cases  corruptly,  even 
if  it  was  used  to  carry  out  the  purpose  of  a  few  party  leaders. 
Many  high-handed  men  were  shrewd  political  workers  in  con 
trol  of  one  duty  or  another  in  the  party  organization;  but  too 
often  the  machine  worked  ruthlessly,  trusting  to  the  support 
of  the  faithful  partisans  at  the  polls  and  sometimes  relying  on 
corrupt  methods  to  carry  the  candidates  into  office.  It  is  dif 
ficult  to  speak  of  this  condition  truthfully  in  a  few  words;  the 
situation  was  different  in  different  parts  of  the  country;  some 
men  were  scrupulously  honest;  some  were  not.  But  at  all 
events  there  was  ground  for  complaint.  Party  leaders,  con 
trolling  funds  and  managing  great  numbers  of  workers,  would 
use  their  power  under  the  direction  of  the  men  who  furnished 
the  money  for  the  party  warfare.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
party  organization1  is  always  necessary;  committees  must  ar- 

1  In  a  presidential  campaign  the  most  important  body  of  each  party  is 
the  National  Committee;  it  is  composed  of  a  member  from  each  State;  one 
member  is  chosen  by  that  State  delegation  to  the  National  Nominating 
Convention.  It  has  general  charge  of  the  campaign,  the  collection  and  dis 
tribution  of  funds.  The  Congressional  Committee,  appointed  by  the  party 
members  of  Congress,  has  charge  of  the  campaign  for  the  election  of  con 
gressmen.  In  each  State  the  party  has  a  committee  and  there  are  gener 
ally  committees  in  cities  and  counties  and  even  in  wards.  All  the  way 
down  through  from  the  national  government  to  the  smallest  local  units, 
committees  and  workers  look  after  the  party  interests.  There  is  nothing 
wrong  in  this;  one  of  the  best  results  of  popular  government  is  the  educa 
tion  that  comes  from  the  earnest  discussion  of  public  questions;  to  promote 
this  discussion  is  part  of  the  work  of  the  party.  But  "machine  methods" 
mean  ruthless  disregard  of  the  wishes  of  the  common  man  of  the  party, 
the  misuse  of  the  organization  in  the  election  of  candidates  without  refer 
ence  to  fitness,  and  they  may  involve  the  grosser  forms  of  corruption  in  the 


466  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

range  for  speakers;  efforts  must  be  made  to  hold  or  convert  the 
uncertain  voters;  the  "vote"  must  be  got  out  to  the  polls.  But 
there  is  always  a  temptation  to  use  devious  or  actually  corrupt 
methods  to  win. 

The  spoils  system  was  in  full  operation;  party  workers  were 
given  positions  in  the  government,  not  because  they  were  fit  to 
hold  office,  but  because  they  were  useful  to  the 
system  "organization";   office-holders   gave    portions    of 

their  salaries  at  the  dictation  of  the  party 
leaders  or  of  bosses,  and  places  of  profit  in  the  govern 
ment  were  sure  to  be  turned  over  to  shrewd  party  workers. 
In  this  way  the  spoils  system  furnished  a  method  by  which 
salaries,  supposed  to  pay  for  public  services,  were  used  in 
part  to  provide  funds  for  party  contests  and  to  win  success. 
Naturally  that  party,  which  for  the  time  being  controlled  the 
government,  had  the  advantage;  their  opponents  could  not 
assess  the  office  holders,  they  could  only  make  promises.  Addi 
tional  funds  for  campaign  victories  came  from  contributions 
given  by  those  who  honestly  believed  that  party  success  was 
essential  for  national  prosperity  or  who  hoped  for  privileges 
from  the  incoming  government  or  desired  to  have  influence  over 
the  administration. 

Among  the  leaders  of  the  Republicans  was  John  Sherman, 
who  was  Hayes's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury;  James  G.  Elaine  of 
Maine,  known  as  the  magnetic  statesman;  a  man 
°^  abm'ty  and  of  over-weening  ambition,  a  great 
favorite  with  the  main  body  of  the  people  because 
of  a  certain  personal  charm  and  a  power  of  winning  speech;  Ros- 
coe  Conkling  of  New  York,  an  orator  and  political  boss,  who 
controlled  the  party  in  New  York,  and  was  looked  on  favorably 
by  the  most  thorough-going  partisans  because  of  his  skill  as  a 
manager  of  party  machinery.  The  Conkling  faction  wished  the 

effort  to  control  the  purchasable  vote.  It  is  plain  that  when  the  party 
organization  is  in  the  hands  of  corrupt  men  or  of  men  who  are  anxious  to 
control  the  party  for  their  own  benefit,  everything  may  go  wrong.  A 
people  cannot  really  be  free  unless  they  control  the  machinery  of  the 
party. 


THE  NEW  NATION— PARTY  STRIFE  467 

election  of  General  Grant;  they  had  no  sympathy  with  the  quiet 
man  in  the  presidential  chair,  whose  careful:  administration  had 
brought  honor  to  himself  and  to  his  party — he  was  too  quiet, 
too  firm.  Their  leader,  Conkling,  detested  Elaine,  for  Elaine 
was  a  dangerous  rival  and  once,  in  a  controversy  in  Congress, 
had  called  the  pompous  New  Yorker  a  "turkey-cock",  a  name 
so  appropriate  in  some  ways  that  it  hurt.1  The  Convention 
of  1880  was  torn  by  factions;  three  hundred  and  six  delegates, 
under  the  imperious  leadership  of  Conkling,  voted,  ballot  after 
ballot,  for  Grant;  but  finally  James  A.  Garfield  of  Ohio  and 
Chester  A.  Arthur  of  New  York  were  nominated.  The  Demo 
crats  nominated  General  Winfield  Scott  Hancock  of  Pennsyl 
vania  and  William  H.  English  of  Indiana.  Candidates  were  also 
placed  before  the  people  by  the  Prohibition  party  and  the 
Greenbackers. 

By  this  time  the  tariff  question,  which  had  been  debated 
time  and  again  in  the  decades  gone  by,  was  beginning  a  new 
The  tariff  phase  of  its  history.  A  tariff  act  had  been  passed 
during  the  war  to  gain  revenue,  and  though 
altered  at  times  after  the  war,  the  duties  were  still  high.  Under 
the  protection  offered  by  high  duties,  manufacturing  plants 
had  been  growing  rapidly  and  waxing  powerful.  General  in 
dustrial  conditions  rested  in  considerable  measure  on  the 
tariff;  a  sharp  reduction  of  rates  would  be  sure  to  destroy  some 
factories,  and  at  the  best  would  demand  serious  readjustment.2 
It  was  also  argued  in  behalf  of  the  tariff,  that  high  wages  of 
workingmen  depended  on  the  maintenance  of  rates,  for  the  tariff 
would  keep  out  foreign  goods  or,  by  increasing  their  price, 
enable  the  American  manufacturer  to  pay  the  larger  wages. 


1  Conkling    later  retorted,  when    asked     to    support    Elaine  for  the 
presidency,  that  he  did  not  indulge  in  criminal  practice.     It  is  evident 
that  there  was  no  love  lost  between  the  two  men. 

2  The  manufactured  products  of  the  United  States  were  valued  at  $i,- 
850,000,000  in  1860;  ten  years  later  their  value  was  considerably  over  twice 
as  much;  and  in  1880  their  value  reached  the  sum  of  $8,000,000,000;  a 
development  which  meant  much  in  the  whole  industrial  and  social  order. 


468  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

The  Democrats  now  attacked  protection,  demanding  a  "tariff 
for  revenue  only",1  while  the  Republicans  came  out  strongly 
for  protection.  For  the  first  time  since  the  war  the  two  parties 
were  radically  opposed  on  the  tariff  question,  which  was  to 
remain  more  than  any  other  one  issue  the  basis  of  difference  be 
tween  them  for  a  generation.  Garfield  and  Arthur  were  suc 
cessful  in  the  election.2 

There  was  not  much  dispute  among  the  Republicans  during 

the  campaign;    the  first  thing  was  to  win  the  election.     But 

when  the  victory  was  won,  strife  broke  out  anew,  and  more 

openly  than  before.    The  radical  element  of   the 

Factions  in         party,   which    had   been    strongly   in    sympathy 

the  Republican        .  ,     L  ,      •    .  .  , 

party.  with  Grant  s  administration  and  had  desired  his 

nomination  for  a  third  term  in  1880,  were  known  as 
"Stalwarts".  They  had  objected  to  the  conciliatory  spirit  of 
the  Hayes  administration.  Their  opponents  were  commonly 
called  "Half-breeds",  a  term  of  contempt  bestowed  upon  them 
because  of  their  supposed  lukewarmness  and  their  faint-hearted 
devotion  to  Republican  principles.  As  the  differences  .were 
largely  personal,  the  issues  between  the  two  factions  were  not 
very  clearly  defined.  The  leader  of  the  "Stalwarts"  was  Conk- 
ling,  then  senator  from  New  York. 

Garfield  seems  to  have  sought  to  reconcile  both  factions, 
or  at  least  not  to  arouse  the  enmity  of  the  "Stalwarts".3     In 

1  That  is,  a  tariff  with  rates  of  duty  determined  primarily  to  get  reve 
nue  and  not  keep  out  foreign  goods  or  to  protect  American  manufacturers 
against  foreign  competition. 

2  Few  men  have  taken  the  presidential  chair  whose  training  for  execu 
tive  duties  had  been  so  wide  and  various  as  was  Garfield's.    Graduating 
from  college  in  1856,  he  became  a  professor  in  Hiram  College,  Ohio,  and 
soon  after  president  of  the  institution.    He  served  in  the  Union  army,  be 
coming  major  general.    He  was  elected  to  Congress  during  the  war,  and 
served  as  a  member  of  the  House  from  1863  to  1880.    He  was  a  man  of 
broad  general  culture,  of  scholarly  tastes,  and  of  unusual  capacity  as  a 
debater  and  legislator.    He  was  elected  senator  from  Ohio  in  1880,  but  was 
chosen  to  the  presidency  before  taking  his  seat  as  senator. 

8  Garfield's  appointment  of  Elaine  as  Secretary  of  State  was  very  dis 
tasteful  to  Conkling;  Elaine  could  not  justly  be  called  a  lukewarm  partisan 
— though  he  was  called  a  "half-breed" — the  ground  of  Conkling's  dislike 


THE  NEW  NATION— PARTY  STRIFE 


469 


The  courtesy  of 
the  Senate. 


this  he  was  not  entirely  successful.  By  appointing  to  the  col- 
lectorship  of  the  port  of  New  York  a  man  not  acceptable  to 
Conkling  he  awakened  the  resentment  of  that 
senator.  For  some  years  it  had  been  thought 
to  be  the  right  of  the  senators  to  dictate  the  more 
important  appointments  within  their  respective  States.  This 
principle  the  President  had  violated.  To  carry  out  and  sub 
stantiate  this  right  and  prerogative  Conkling  and  his  colleague 
in  the  Senate,  Thomas  C.  Platt,  resigned,  appealing,  as  it  were, 
to  their  State  for  ratification  of  their  conduct  in  resisting  the 
President.  The  Legislature,  however,  refused  to  re-elect  the 
two  senators. 

Perhaps  these  heated  controver 
sies  and  the  consequent  excitement 
in    political    circles 
Assassination  of  brought    about    indi- 

the  President,  «       ,        ,        -,       f    , 

July,  1881.  rectly  the  death  of  the 
President.  A  hare 
brained  fanatic  by  the  name  of 
Guiteau  came  to  Washington  as  an 
applicant  for  office.  As  he  did  not 
meet  with  success,  his  mind  seems 
to  have  been  preyed  upon  by  his 
failure  and  inflamed  by  the  politi 
cal  discussions  with  which  the  air 
was  heavy.  He  became  imbued 
with  a  hatred  of  the  President, 


was  personal.  Their  petty  squabbles  do  not  furnish  pleasant  reading,  but 
they  were  not  unimportant;  they  disclose  to  us  a  condition  of  things  in 
which  office-holding  and  the  right  to  dictation  and  rule  within  the  party 
appeared  more  important  than  real,  vital  issues  of  principle;  and  yet  at  that 
very  moment  the  wise  management  of  the  government,  the  care  for  the 
public  domain,  the  control  of  the  railroads,  a  thousand  delicate  tasks 
demanded  attention— if  the  warring  political  leaders  had  only  seen  them, 
or  if  the  people  had  bade  them  cease  their  noise  and  consider  their  duties. 
.How  different  would  have  been  the  condition  of  the  country  to-day  if  the 
men  in  the  eighties  had  fully  comprehended  the  meaning  of  the  changing 
and  developing  business  life  of  the  time,  and  had  ceased  their  quarrels  \ 


470  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

and  cherished  the  idea  that  his  death  would  unite  the  party. 
On  the  morning  of  July  2d,  as  Garfield  was  entering  a  railway 
station  in  Washington,  Guiteau  shot  him.  For  some  time 
hopes  were  entertained  that  the  wound  was  not  mortal,  but 
after  enduring  great  suffering  with  fortitude  and  hopefulness  the 
President  died,  September  19,  1881,  at  Elberon,  N.  J.  The 
people  of  the  entire  country,  and  indeed  of  the  civilized  world, 
were  deeply  affected  by  this  awful  tragedy  and  crime. 

Vice-President  Arthur  took  the  oath  as  President  at  his 
home  in  New  York,  September  20,  1881.  When  he  was  elected 
Vice-President  no  one  knew  much  of  his  qualifi- 
^hesti°A°f  cations  for  office.  He  had  taken  a  prominent  and 
Arthur.  active  part  in  politics,  and  had  been  for  some 

years  collector  of  the  port  of  New  York.  He 
proved  during  his  term  of  office  to  be  a  man  of  rare  administra 
tive  ability  and  pure  purposes,  and  soon  won  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  the  nation. 

The  trouble  between  Garfield  and  the  New  York  senators, 

and,  above  all,  the  assassination  of  the  President,  called  the 

attention  of  the  people  to  the  evils  and  follies  of 

The  civil-service  ,1  M  T  •  i 

commission  ^ne  SPO11S  system.  In  two  successive  annual  mes 
sages  Arthur  argued  strongly  and  wisely  in  favc** 
of  civil-service  reform,  and  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  Con^ 
gress  the  desirability  of  new  legislation  regarding  appoint 
ments  to  office.  In  January,  1883,  Congress  passed  an  act 
known  as  the  "Pendleton  Act",  authorizing  the  President  to 
direct  that  appointments  should  be  made  after  competitive 
examinations.  He  was  also  empowered  to  establish  a  civil- 
service  commission.  The  President  put  the  act  immediately 
into  effect,  and  since  that  time  the  regulations  have  been 
gradually  extended  by  his  successors,  until  at  the  present  time 
a  very  large  portion  of  the  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  Government 
are  bestowed  not  as  a  reward  for  party  fealty,  but  after  an 
examination  made  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  the  merit  of 
the  applicants  and  their  respective  fitness  for  official  duties.1 

1  Properly  to  care  for  the  civil  service  was  also  a  duty  for  states  and 
cities.    The  spoils  system  was  not  confined  to  the  national  government — 


THE  NEW  NATION— PARTY  STRIFE  471 

The  prosperity  of  the  country  was  so  great  during  these 
years,  and  importations  for  foreign  countries  were  so  large, 
that  the  public  moneys  derived  from  the  duties 
the  tari&  ™  *  accumulated  in  the  Treasury  until  the  Government 
actually  had  more  money  than  it  knew  what  to  do 
with.  The  immense  public  debt  rolled  up  by  the  war  was 
rapidly  being  paid;  but  the  bondholders,  resting  secure  in  the 
credit  of  the  Government,  were  not  willing  to  receive  payment 
for  their  bonds  until  they  were  due.  It  seemed  desirable  to 
many  persons  that  the  tariff  duties  should  be  lessened,  because 
the  surplus  was  unnecessary,  and  might  be  even  harmful  by 
encouraging  public  extravagance,  if  not"  corruption.  A  new 
tariff  law  was  passed  that  slightly  reduced  the  duties.  In  1884 
still  another  bill  was  introduced  into  the  House.  It  was  a 
Democratic  measure  and  was  supported  by  the  main  body 
of  the  party,  but  it  was  defeated  by  the  combined  votes  of  the 
Republicans  and  a  small  number  of  Democrats  who  were 
opposed  to  the  reduction  of  the  tariff. 

For  some  years  there  had  existed,  especially  in  the  Pacific 
States,  a  strong  sentiment  against  the  unrestricted  immigra 
tion  of  the  Chinese.  The  increasing  number  of 
Chinese*.11  "  immigrants  had  caused  consternation,  not  to  say 
alarm,  in  parts  of  the  West,  and  it  seemed  de 
sirable  to  take  steps  to  restrict  the  immigration.  In  1880  a 
treaty  was  made  at  Peking  between  the  Chinese  Government 
and  a  commission  from  the  United  States,  providing  that  this 
country  might  place  restrictions  upon  the  entrance  of  laborers 
from  China.  Two  years  later  a  law  was  passed  by  Congress 
suspending  the  right  of  Chinese  workmen  to  come  to  this 
country  for  the  period  of  ten  years,  and  in  1892  the  period  of 
exclusion  was  extended  for  another  term  of  ten  years,  and 

it  was  in  vogue  everywhere.  Little  by  little  the  various  states  began  to 
provide  for  a  merit  system  based  on  examination,  and  city  governments 
established  their  commissions.  The  problem  is  by  no  means  solved;  but 
there  are  few  men  now  who  openly  advocate  that  responsible  positions 
requiring  practice  and  skill  should  be  given  solely  as  a  payment  for  party 
fealty. 


472  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

severe  and  strict  regulations  were  provided  to  prevent  the 
breach  of  law. 

The  presidential  canvass  of  1884  was  a  very  stirring  one. 
The  Republicans  nominated  James  G.  Elaine  and  John  A. 
Logan;  the  Democrats,  Grover  Cleveland  and  Thomas  A. 

Hendricks.  There  were  two  other  parties  that  put 
mf*  '  candidates  in  the  field.  The  "People's  party", 

which  was  really  to  a  great  extent  the  old  Green 
back  party  rechristened,  nominated  General  Benjamin  F. 
Butler,  and  the  Prohibitionists  John  P.  St.  John.  The  tariff 
was  the  main  issue.  The  Republican  platform  declared  for  a 
continuance  of  the  protective  system,  while  the  Democratic 
platform  announced  that  the  party  was  "pledged  to  revise  the 
tariff  in  a  spirit  of  fairness  to  all  interests  ".  To  some  men  in 
his  party,  Blaine  was  not  an  acceptable  candidate;  they  dis 
trusted  him;  they  doubted  his  honesty.  Ugly  stories  were  told 
about  his  relations  with  interests  that  wanted  legislative  favors, 
and  his  explanations  did  not  satisfy.  Blaine  sneered  at  the 
"noisy",  "ambitious",  "pharisaical ",  "pretentious"  people 
who  were  too  good  to  associate  with  ordinary  mortals,  but  his 
fine  phrases  did  not  help  him  much.  The  "mugwumps",  as 
these  Independent  Republicans  were  called,  counted  among 
their  number  some  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  country  who  had 
long  been  staunch  Republicans.1  The  result  of  the  election 
turned  upon  the  vote  of  New  York.  Outside  of  that  state, 
Blaine  had  182  electoral  votes,  and  Cleveland  183.  The  contest 
in  New  York  was  so  close  and  the  x  out  come  so  doubtful  that 
it  was  not  known  for  several  days  after  the  election  which  one 
of  the  candidates  was  elected.  It  was  finally  determined  that 

1  There  is  still  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether  Blaine  was 
guilty  of  some  of  the  more  serious  charges  brought  against  him.  The  facts, 
so  far  as  we  know  them,  look  rather  black,  but  the  awakening  suspicion  of 
secret  understanding  between  Government  and  corrupt  men  who  desire 
profitable  favors  was  the  most  important  fact  of  the  whole  episode.  Blaine 
remained  for  some  years  the  most  conspicuous  man  in  the  party;  but  it  was 
a  hopeful  sign  that  even  suspicion  of  personal  honesty  made  accession  to 
the  presidency  difficult  if  not  impossible. 


THE  NEW  NATION— PARTY  STRIFE  473 

the  Democrats  had  carried  the  state  by  a  little  over  a  thou 
sand  votes.  Thus  Cleveland  was  chosen  by  an  electoral 
majority  of  thirty-seven. 

REFERENCES 

WILSON,  Division  and  Reunion,  pp.  289-300;  SPARKS,  National 
Development,  Chapters  VI-XVII,  XIX;  DEWEY,  National  Problems, 
Chapter  II;  HAWORTH,  Reconstruction  and  the  Union,  pp.  80-119. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  AMERICA 

1859-1903 

We  have,  in  the  last  chapter,  carried  our  story  down  through 

twenty  years  of  intense  political  feeling;  and  we  have  seen  a 

Democrat,  for  the  first  time  since  1856,  elected  to 

The  change  from  ^g  presidency.    We  should  be  far  wrong,  however, 

simple  indus-  ^  J  .  .  ' 

trial  order.  should  we  gather  the  impression  that,  through 
these  years,  men  talked  of  nothing  but  party 
loyalty  or  of  governmental  activity.  In  fact  the  characteris 
tic  feature  of  the  time  was  industrial  growth,  the  rise  of  new 
factories,  the  peopling  of  the  new  west,  the  stretching  out  of  the 
railroads  across  the  country,  the  coming  in  of  the  great  business 
enterprises  that  made  the  old  methods  of  life  and  labor  seem 
primitive,  simple,  and  old-fashioned. 

When  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  the  United  States  was  still 
in  many  ways  a  land  of  simple  conditions.  It  had  lost  much 
of  the  appearance  of  the  frontier,  to  be  sure;  even  in  the  Missis 
sippi  valley  there  were  factories  as  well  as  farms;  but  the 
great  natural  resources  of  the  land — the  oil,  the  coal,  the  iron, 
the  lumber — had  been  scarcely  more  than  touched.  Large 
sections  were  still  without  railroads.  Beyond  the  line  of  Mis 
souri  and  Iowa,  there  were  a  few  people;  Kansas  came  in  as 
a  state  in  1861;  the  hardy  Mormons  had  pushed  on  into  Utah 
and  were  turning  the  Salt  Lake  Valley  into  a  garden ;  but  there 
were  still  hundreds  of  miles  of  uninhabited  prairie  where  the 
buffalo  roamed  in  countless  numbers.  The  words  "Great 
American  Desert"  were  printed  in  large  letters  on  the  map, 
covering  a  wide  area  of  the  west,  where  to-day  are  farms  and 
villages.  The  great  mineral  wealth  of  the  mountains  was 
scarcely  dreamed  of. 

474 


MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  AMERICA— 1859-1903      475 

In  1859,  when  poor,  distracted  Kansas  was  settling  down  to 
rest  after  the  turmoil  of  "popular  sovereignty",  the  rumor 
The  West  spread  that  gold  had  been  discovered  near  Pike's 
Peak,  at  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Rockies.  The 
word  was  enough:  men,  eager  for  immediate  riches,  gathered 
from  far  and  near  and  started  for  the  mountains.  Big  wagons, 
with  "Pike's  Peak  or  Bust"  printed  on  their  canvas  covers, 
began  the  journey  across  the  prairie.  Soon  little  mining  camps 
were  established  in,  the  mountain  valleys,  and  the  history  of 
Colorado  was  begun.  About  the  same  time,  silver  was  found 
in  the  western  part  of  Utah,  in  a  portion  of  the  territory  which 
became  Nevada.  Thus,  about  1860  the  great  mining  in 
dustry  of  the  western  region  began.  The  development  of  Colo 
rado  alone  will  serve  as  some  indication  of  the  growth  of  the 
Mountain  district.  In  1888  the  state  produced  $3,758,000 
in  gold;  $24,273,000  in  silver;  $7,006,000  in  lead;  $203,000  in 
copper.  The  "Comstock  lode"  of  Nevada,  discovered  in  1859, 
turned  out  fabulous  riches;  in  twenty-one  years  it  produced 
$306,000,000  worth  of  silver  bullion.1 

California  was  by  1860  a  prosperous  -state,  though  still,  of 
course,  far  from  being  the  land  we  now  know;  its  population 
was  about  375,000.  San  Francisco,  still  retaining  many  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  early  days-,  when  the  hustling  "forty- 
niners"  crowded  its  wind-swept  streets,  was  a  city  of  over 


1  The  first  government  of  Colorado  .was  set  up  by  the  settlers  them 
selves,  simply  to  preserve  order,  one  of  the  many  examples  in  American 
history,  beginning  with  the  Mayflower  Compact,  in  which  settlers  have 
made  their  own  government.  The  territory  of  Colorado  was  provided  for 
by  Congress  in  1861;  in  1876  it  came  into  the  Union.  Nevada  developed  at 
first  rapidly  but  never  contained  a  large  population.  In  1861  the  miners 
sent  $50,000  in  silver  bricks  to  the  sanitary  commission  to  help  in  the  car£ 
of  wounded  and  sick  soldiers.  In  1864  Nevada  was  admitted  into  the 
Union.  The  mountain  region  at  the  north  was  also  in  part  peopled  during 
the  war.  In  1862  and  1863,  gold  was  discovered  in  what<  is  now  Montana, 
and  again  miners  and  settlers  flocked  to  the  site;  twenty-five  years  after 
ward  the  value  of  property  as  assessed  for  taxation  was  nearly  $53,000,000* 
Such  stories  of  rapid  growth  declare  in  some  measure  the  wonderful  devel 
opment  of  America  in  the  years  from  1860  on. 


476  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

50,000  people.  By  1880  its  population  was  four  times  that 
number.  Oregon  was  admitted  to  the  Union  just  before  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War.  It  then  held  some 
5°>000  settlers,  most  of  whom  had  taken  the  long 
journey  by  the  Oregon  trail  across  the  mountains  to 
settle  on  farms  and  in  villages  in  the  rich  placid  region  of  the 
far  northwest.  In  twenty  years  it  more  than  trebled  its  popu 
lation. 

Even  before  the  mining  settlements  were  made  in  the  moun 
tain  regions,  there  were  routes  across  the  continent.  Many  a 
traveller  had  made  his  way  across  the  boundless 
prairies  and  over  the  Rockies  to  the  coast;  many 
an  ambitious  pioneer  had  been  left  to  die  by  the 
wayside  or  was  lost  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains.  The 
older  west,  the  west  that  by  1860  was  already  old,  had  been 
traversed  by  the  steamboat,  which  threaded  the  innumerable 
streams  of  the  eastern  Mississippi  valley;  the  great  prairie 
region,  on  the  other  hand,  was  lined  out  in  trails  along  which 
slowly  moved  the  cumbrous  "prairie  schooner  ",  the  American 
ship  of  the  desert.  Boats  plied  up  and  down  the  Missouri  and 
one  or  two  of  the  other  rivers;  but  large  sections  of  the  country 
had  to  be  reached  and  peopled  in  less  comfortable  fashion  than 
by  water  travel.  Long  caravans  of  wagons  and  horses  left  the 
towns  of  western  Iowa  and  Missouri  or  eastern  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  for  the  far  west. 

The  trader,  carrying  his  goods  to  remote  regions,  began 
early.  Of  course  the  fur-trader,  the  advance  guard  of  civiliza 
tion,  had  long  been  familiar  with  the  great  north 
west.  The  merchant  and  the  settler  followed  in  his 
wake.  Even  before  the  claim  to  Oregon  was  settled  (1846)  and 
before  the  taking  of  California,  trails  were  made  across  the  con 
tinent.  The  first  was  the  Santa  Fe  trail,  stretching  a  long 
dreary  course  from  western  Missouri  into  New  Mexico;  over 
this  route,  pack  trains  carried  goods  to  be  exchanged  for  Mexi 
can  products.  A  long  hard  road  it  was,  some  six  hundred  miles 
over  the  dry  prairies,  where  Indians,  half  friendly  at  the  best, 
were  a  more  or  less  constant  menace;  but  the  brave  frontier 


MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  AMERICA— 1859-1903       477 

tradesman  or  mule  driver  seemed  to  think  privation  and  danger 
only  part  of  the  day's  sport.  It  is  said  that  deep  ruts  can 
still  be  seen  where  the  creaking  prairie  wagons  were  dragged 
along  with  their  burdens  of  merchandise.  A  route  also  ran 
from  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  over  the  plains  and  through  the 
passes  of  the  mountains  to  the  Columbia  Valley.  The  difficulties 
of  the  trip  and  its  adventures  will  always  remain  a  part  of  the 
vivid  history  by  which  the  great  west  was  won.  To  Salt  Lake 
City  a  trail  was  made  in  early  days;  before  the  Civil  War  a 
daily  stage  was  running  from  the  Missouri  river  to  the  Mormon 
city.  Ere  long  the  pony  express  hurried  the  mails  across  the 
mountains  to  San  Francisco. 

The  American  of  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
dazed  by  no  prospects  of  difficulty  or  expense,  was  not  to  re 
main  content  with  the  wagon  or  the  pack  horse. 
Railroad1  °  ^  man  by  the  name  of  Barlow — a  daring  spirit 
he  must  have  been — began  writing  to  the  news 
papers  about  a  railroad  from  New  York  to  the  Columbia  River 
as  early  as  1834.  He  must  have  been  considered  about  as 
wise  and  sane  as  a  man  would  have  been  who  proposed  air 
ships  to  China.  Ten  years  later  Asa  Whitney  began  advocat 
ing  a  western  railroad.  He  succeeded  in  arousing  some  public 
interest,  and  from  his  enthusiasm  may  be  said  to  have  come 
the  movement  that,  ended  with  success. 

Even  before  the  annexation  of  California  plans  for  a  west 
ern  railroad  were  seriously  discussed.  After  the  discovery  of 
goM  and  the  rapid  peopling  of  the  state,  it  began  to  be  more 
and  more  evident  that  some  time  the  great  work 
road.  °  must  be  undertaken.  Perhaps  the  road  might  have 

been  begun  even  in  the  fifties  had  there  not  been 
sectional  disputes  and  rivalries;  Congress  discussed  the  matter, 
but  while  northerners  wanted  a  northern  route,  southerners 
wanted  a  southern  route,  and  discussion  begat  further  bitter 
ness.  The  party  platforms  of  1860  favored  a  transcontinental 
railroad,  its  construction  to  be  furthered  by  governmental  aid. 
With  the  outbreak  of  war  the  necessity  of  binding  the  far  west 
to  the  rest  of  the  Union  became  a  plain  duty;  the  coast  region 


478 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


and  even  the  mountain  districts  were  being  peopled  rapidly,  and 
every  day  added  to  the  need  for  a  safe  and  rapid  means  of 
communication. 

In  1862  Congress  passed  the  important  Act,  which  was 
altered  in  1864.  It  chartered  two  companies;  one,  the  Union 
Pacific,  was  to  build  westward,  the  other,  the 
Central  Pacific,  was  to  build  from  San  Franciscc 
eastward.  Liberal  money  grants  were  made  by 
the  government,  and  large  areas  of  land  along  the  right  of  way.1 
The  passage  of  this  measure  in  one  respect  is  significant  in 


o* 

G  VLF  OF  MEXICO 


TRAILS  TO  THE  WEST  AND  ROUTES  OF  PACIFIC  RAILROADS 
constitutional  history.    No  longer  were  there  serious  outcries 
against  the  power  of  government  to  aid  in  internal  improve 
ments.    Money  and  land  were  now  given  lavishly,  and  the  plan 

1  The  Union  Pacific  has  had  a  checkered  career;  its  history  tells  of  financial 
discord  and  of  sharp  practice,  a  tangled  tale  involving  the  reputation  of 
business  men  and  legislators  and  the  loss  of  many  a  hard  earned  dollar  by 
the  innocent  investor.  It  is  one  of  those  epics  of  "high  finance",  of  which 
the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  furnished  many  an  example. 


MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  AMERICA— 1859-1903       479 

of  aiding  railroad  building  by  grants  of  the  public  domain  was 
established.  The  work  on  the  two  roads  was  begun  with  energy; 
each  vied  with  the  other  in  the  race.  They  met  at  a  point 
near  Ogden,  Utah.  In  May,  1869,  the  "last  spike"  was  driven.1 
The  new  railroad  did  more  than  merely  connect  the  people 


DRIVING  THE  LAST  SPIKE 
A  scene  near  Ogden,  Utah,  May  10,  1869 

of  the  Pacific  coast  with  those  of  the  middle  West,  it  helped  in 
the  settlement  of  the  great  middle  region,  in  which  other  roads 
were  now  built.  In  Nebraska  there  were  only  28,000  people 
in  1860,  in  twenty  years  there  were  nearly  a  million,  and  in 

1  There  were  interesting  ceremonies.  "  The  ties  were  laid  for  the  rails 
in  the  open  space  (about  100  feet  between  the  completed  ends  of  the 
lines)  and  while  coolies  from  the  west  laid  the  rails  at  one  end,  the  pad 
dies  from  the  east  laid  them  at  the  other,  until  they  met  and  joined. 
The  'last  spike'  remained  to  be  driven.  Telegraphic  wires  were  so  con 
nected  that  each  blow  of  the  descending  sledge  could  be  reported  instantly 
on  the  telegraphic  instruments  in  most  of  the  large  cities  from  the  At 
lantic  to  the  Pacific;  corresponding  blows  were  struck  on  the  bell  of  the 
City  Hall  in  San  Francisco,  and  with  the  last  blow  of  the  sledge  a  cannon 
was  fired  at  Fort  Point". — Davis,  The  Union  Pacific  Railway. 


*80  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

1888  the  state  produced  in  corn  alone  almost  150,000,000 
bushels.  The  population  of  Kansas,  which  was  little  more 
than  100,000  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  was  nearly 
1,500,000  by  1890,  almost  twice  the  population  of  Connecticut. 
These  are  but  examples  of  the  astonishing  growth  of  the  west 
ern  prairie  region,  where  wheat  and  corn  fields  stretched  away 
to  the  horizon,  and  flourishing  towns  grew  up  as  if  by  magic.1 

The  success  of  the  first  transcontinental  railway  stimulated 
the  building  of  others.     Plans  for  building  a  northern  route 

began  early.  Immense  land  grants  were  Ob- 
road's!  *  tained  from  Congress:  it  is  estimated  that  the 

grant  contained  over  48,000,000  acres,  an  area 
about  that  of  the  state  of  New  Hampshire.  It  took  years, 
however,  to  get  the  money  to  build  the  road,  and  it  required 
patience  and  superb  engineering  skill  to  surmount  the  physical 
difficulties.  Finally  in  the  early  eighties  the  Northern  Pacific 
was  completed.  In  the  South  the  Southern  Pacific  was  com 
pleted  and  other  lines  also.  Population  followed  the  railroads; 
great  fields  of  wheat  began  to  extend  over  the  rich  grain 


1  Figures,  statistics  of  growth,  need  not  be  remembered  in  detail;  but  if 
one  is  to  see  in  general  the  tremendous  development  of  the  West  in  these 
years  he  needs  to  call  upon  statistics  to  help  him. 

POPULATION  OF  THE  WEST 
STATE  1860  1870  1880  i8go  1900  1910 

Iowa 675,000  1,194,000  1,625,000  1,900,000  2,230,000  2,225,000 

Minnesota 172,000  439,000  780,000  1,300,000  1,750,000  2,075,000 

North  Dakota  I -  TICOOO  iQ4,ooo  3iQ,ooo  577,ooo 

South  Dakotaf 4>8o°  I4lOO°  J35,ooc  348,ooo  400,000  583,000 

Nebraska 28,000  122,000  452,000  1,062,000  1,066,000  1,192,000 

Kansas 107,000  364,000  996,000  1,428,000  1,470,000  1,690,000 

California 380,000  560,000  864,000  1,213,000  1,485,000  2,377,000 

In  1860  Kansas  produced  5,678,000  bushels  of  corn;  in  1870  the  crop 
was  16,685,000  bushels,  and  in  1888,  168,000,000  bushels.  In  1860  it  pro 
duced  168,000  bushels  of  wheat;  in  1870  2,343,000,  ten  years  later  25,000,- 
ooo  bushels. 

In  1860  in  the  west  north  central  region,  not  including  Missouri — that 
is,  in  Minnesota,  Iowa,  North  Dakota,  South  Dakota,  Nebraska,  and  Kan 
sas — there  were  about  1,000,000  people.  In  1880  there  were  4,000,000 — 
in  other  words  as  many  people  as  there  were  in  the  whole  United  States 
when  the  Constitution  was  adopted  (1788). 


MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  AMERICA— 1859-1903      481 

lands  of  Minnesota,  and  before  long  the  Dakotas  began  to  be 
taken  up  by  settlers. 

The  rapid  peopling  of  the  West  was  in  part  due  to  the 
land  policy  of  the  Government.    Land  was  given  to  the  rail 
roads,  it  is  true,  and  from  them  great  fortunes 
The  Homestead  were  made;  but  the  Government  had,  during  the 

Civil  War,  adopted  a  policy  of  granting  lands  to 
settlers  without  asking  compensation.  The  land,  it  was  said, 
belonged  to  the  people;  why  charge  them  for  it?  In  1862  the 
Homestead  Act  was  passed,  whereby  any  head  of  a  family 
might  become  the  owner  of  160  acres  of  public  land  by  settling 
upon  it  and  living  there  five  years.  No  man  need  be  homeless, 
if  he  could  build  a  sod  house  on  the  western  prairies  or  a  log 
shanty  in  the  forest;  if  he  could  work  with  his  hands  and  plant 
a  few  acres  of  corn  or  wheat,  he  might  soon  be  a  farmer,  a  verit 
able  lord  of  lands. 

Thus  the  great  desert  which  in  early  days  was  supposed  to 
extend  over  a  large  part  of  Kansas, , Nebraska  and  the  moun 
tain   region   was  peopled.      Farm  houses,  school 
dewJTno          houses,    churches    dotted    the    land.      By    1890 
longer.  Montana,  Wyoming,  Idaho,  Washington,  North 

and  South  Dakota  were  members  of  the  Union. 
In  1896  Utah  became  a  state. 

In  all  the  process  of  taking  up  this  continent  and  of  push 
ing  the  frontier  westward,  the  cowboy,  the  shepherd,  and  the 
herder  of  hogs  and  horses  have  played  their  part.1 
business.6          ^ne  °^  the  earliest  frontiers  is  the  stock  raising 
frontier,  rather  than  the  farmer  frontier;  stock 
raising  rather  than  the  raising  of  crops  is  the  work  of  the  pioneer 
when  conditions  favor.     The  western  part  of  the  old  eastern 


1  "Travelers  of  the  eighteenth  century  found  the  cowpens  among  the 
canebrakes  and  prairie  pastures  of  the  South,  and  the  'cow  drivers'  took 
their  droves  to  Charleston,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York.  Travelers  at 
the  close  of  the  War  of  1812  met  droves  of  more  than  a  thousand  cattle 
and  swine  from  the  interior  of  Ohio  going  to  Pennsylvania  to  fatten  for 
the  Philadelphia  market.  The  ranges  of  the  great  plains  with  ranch,  and 
cowboy  and  nomadic  life  ?.re  things  of  yesterday  and  to-day.  The  experi* 
33 


482 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


states  was  an  early  cattle  region,  and  the  cowboy  of  the  western 
Carolinas  was  an  important  person  in  the  days  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  Sheep  and  hogs  as  well  as  cattle  were  raised  in  the  upland 
country  and  driven  in  great  droves  to  the  eastern  towns.  So 
it  was  in  the  newer  West.  The  wide  prairies  offered  facili 
ties  unusually  inviting.  In  place  of  the  wandering  herds  of 


BREAKING  RAW  PRAIRIE 
From  a  contemporary  illustration  in  Harper's  Weekly 

buffalo,  vast  herds  of  cattle  soon  appeared;  the  cowboy  and 
his  mustang  became  the  conspicuous  workers  in  a  great  in 
dustry.  For  a  time  the  public  lands,  where  no  man  was  inter 
fered  with,  unless  he  stole  a  horse  or  a  cow — an  unforgivable 
offence — were  freely  used.  Later  there  were  private  ranches, 
immense  estates,  where  thousands  of  cattle  nibbled  the  grass 
and  the  watchful  cowboy  guarded  his  herds.  After  the  rail 
roads  were  built,  train  loads  of  cattle  were  carried  to  the 
stockyards  of  Kansas  City,  Omaha,  and  Chicago. 


ence  of  the  Carolina  cowpens  guided  the  ranchers  of  Texas.  One  element 
favoring  the  rapid  extension  of  the  ranchers'  frontier  is  the  fact  that  in  a 
remote  country  lacking  transportation  facilities  the  product  must  be  in 
small  bulk,  or  be  able  to  transport  itself,  and  the  cattle  raiser  could  easily 
drive  his  product  to  market."  (F.  J.  Turner,  "Influences of  the  Frontier 
in  Amer.  Hist.",  Ann'l  Rept.  of  Amer.  Hist.  Ass'n,  1893,  2I0 


MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  AMERICA— 1859-1903       483 

We  have  been  looking  at  western  development  in  the  thirty 
years  after  the  war.  But  the  east  was  growing  too;  popula 
tion  was  increasing;  immigrants  from  foreign 
. lands  were  thronging  to  the  country  in  which 
they  hoped  to  find  new  opportunities  and  to  gain 
riches;  towns  developed  into  cities;  hamlets  into  populous 
towns.  The  railroad  system  spread  a  network  of  rails  over  the 
middle  and  eastern  section.  The  factory  system,  which  had 
not  much  more  than  begun  by  the  middle  of  the  century,  was 
building  up,  changing  the  older  simple  systems  of  industry 
and  bringing  in  new  problems.  The  iron  ore  and  the  lumber  and 
other  natural  products  were  seized  upon.  Corporations  were 
founded  to  make  everything  under  the  sun.  Large  fortunes 
were  accumulated.  They  were  made  in  many  ways;  but 
largely  by  men  who  shrewdly  used  the  great  opportunities 
which  were  offered  by  the  natural  resources  of  the  country  and 
by  the  immense  development  of  transportation.  The  building 
up  of  large  fortunes  on  the  basis  of  natural  resources  is  an 
important  characteristic  of  the  period. 

The  invention  of  new  machinery  stimulated  the  growth  of 

factories.     The  development  of  factories  and  the  increase  of 

railroads  stimulated  the  growth  of  cities.     Many 

Beginnings  of      a  man  js  \{v[Ug  to-day  who  can  remember  seeing 

the  concentra-      ,  .      r     ,  ,  .  ,,     , 

tion  of  industry,  his  father  or  his  grandfather  sitting  by  the  fire 
side  in  the  winter  evening  and  making  axe  helves 
with  a  draw-shave  or  carving  out  some  other  useful  thing  with 
a  cunning  knife  blade.  But  in  the  decades  after  the  Civil  War, 
household  work  of  this  kind  disappeared.  Even  the  little  in 
dustries  that  were  carried  on  in  the  villages  and  towns,  some 
times  by  a  few  tinkers  or  "handy  men",  began  to  vanish. 
The  factories  in  the  large  cities  made  things  by  machinery 
and  made  them  cheaply.  The  flour  mills,  that  had  been  built 
here  and  there  along  the  inland  streams  by  the  side  of  friendly 
mill  dams,  were  allowed  to  sink  into  ruins;  the  prairie  wheat 
was  rushed  away  to  the  big  elevators  in  Chicago  or  Minneapolis. 
And  thus  the  process  of  concentration  was  begun  and  was  well 
under  way  before  1890. 


484 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Cities,  as  we  have  said,  took  on  new  dimensions  and  mul 
tiplied  their  people.  At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  American  people  generally  lived  in  small  towns 
or  on  the  farm;  but  the  development  of  the  factory  system 
caused  the  gradual  growth  of  cities  and  the 
concentration  of  population.  This  change  was 
especially  marked  in  the  decades  after  the  Civil 
War,  when  the  older  eastern  cities  greatly  increased  their 
population  and  the  smaller  places  of  the  Middle  West, 


Growth  of 
cities. 


-DO  TFLL.Ny.TiMM.  IT-WAS 

A  CARTOON  OF  THE  TWEED  RING  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY,  BY  THOMAS  NAST 

like  Buffalo,  Cleveland  and  Detroit,  not  to  mention  Chi 
cago,  St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati,  became  populous,  thriv 
ing  cities.  The  change  brought  in  serious  problems  in  city 
government;  for  it  was  necessary  to  provide  for  street  rail 
way  transportation,  for  gas  and  water,  and  for  many  other 
things  which  had  been  looked  after  by  the  individual  alone  in 
the  older  and  simpler  methods  of  village  life.  In  fact,  all  or 
most  of  the  duties  of  the  city  were  badly  attended  to  in  very 
many  cases;  the  city  governments  were  at  their  worst  during  this 


MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  AMERICA— 1859-1903       485 

period,  when  the  ordinary  man  was  so  busy  making  money  he 
paid  insufficient  attention  to  the  way  in  which  he  was  governed, 
provided  he  was  left  alone,  and  when  the  new  conditions  were 
so  new,  that  few  men  could  realize  all  their  meaning.  The 
thievery  of  the  Tweed  ring  in  New  York  was  the  most  extreme 
piece  of  rascality — for  millions  were  stolen;  but  it  was  only  an 
extravagant  example  of  more  or  less  general  unscrupulous  man 
agement  of  municipal  business.  This  growth  of  cities  and 
these  new  problems  of  city  government  were  in  large  measure 
the  product  of  fundamental  change  in  the  industrial  and  social 
life  of  the  people.  The  truth  is,  the  world  was  just  beginning 
to  feel  the  full  effect  of  the  invention  of  machinery 

and  the  use  of  steam-  Tne  men  of  the  eighteenth 
century  still  used  tools  rather  than  machinery; 
they  had  no  need  of  corporations  to  furnish  them  light  or 
water,  or  transportation  on  the  street;  they  lived  in  many 
respects  as  men  had  lived  since  the  time  when  fire 
was  first  discovered,  or  when  the  wind  was  first  used  to 
fill  the  sails  at  sea.  They  kept  fire  in  their  big  fireplaces 
over  night  by  banking  it  up,  for  they  had  no  matches;  they 
sailed  on  the  lakes  and  the  sea,  instead  of  being  hurried  along 
by  steam;  they  spun  their  wool  or  flax  in  the  chimney  corner; 
they  wove  their  rough  homespun  on  the  family  loom.  With 
the  invention  of  the  steam  engine  came  the  industrial  revolu 
tion,  the  greatest  change  that  has  come  for  thousands  of  years 
The  old  home  industry  began  to  disappear.  With  the  inven 
tion  of  railroads  men  were  brought  together.  The  factory 
system,  already  begun,  developed  more  rapidly.  All  this  worked 
marvellous  changes  in  the  course  of  half  a  century;  but  for  all 
that,  what  steam  really  meant — what  all  kinds  of  swiftly 
moving  machinery  really  meant — was  not  disclosed  till  after 
the  Civil  War,  and  even  then  men  did  not  fully  realize  how 
quickly  they  were  leaving  the  long  past  behind  them. 
Large  steamships  hurried  across  the  ocean  and  brought  the 
two  continents  together;  the  telegraphic  cable,  the  first  one 
laid  in  1866,  flashed  messages  beneath  the  Atlantic.  Railroads, 
reaching  in  all  directions,  made  the  spaces  of  by-gone  days  of 


486  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

no  moment;  the  barriers  between  sections  were  destroyed. 
The  rapid  printing  presses  brought  each  man  the  news  of 
yesterday.  And  when  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  decades  of  the 
century,  electricity  began  to  be  used  as  motive  power,  new 
industrial  change  came  in. 

The  industrial  growth  of  which  we  have  spoken  was  not 
confined  to  the  Northern  states  or  the  great  West.  The 
Southern  states  gradually  recovered  from  the  dreadful 
losses  of  war  and  the  humiliation  of  Reconstruction  days. 

The  new  South.  ^  to°^  tmie  ^or  ^e  Pe°P^e  to  overcome  poverty 
and  to  get  used  to  the  new  free  labor  system  but 
little  by  little  the  cotton  industries  developed,  and  prosperity 
smiled  upon  the  people.  In  1890  two  and  one-half  times  as 
much  cotton  was  raised  in  the  South  as  in  i860.1  In  early  days 
the  cotton  seed  was  a  mere  waste  product  of  cotton  raising, 
but  the  introduction  of  machinery  to  crush  the  seeds  made  the 
seed  valuable.  In  1865  the  cotton  seed  oil  industry  was  hardly 
known;  in  1890  one  company  made  over  $20,000,000  worth 
of  oil,  and  the  production  continued  to  increase;  millions  of 
dollars  were  made  by  the  planters  from  what  a  few  years  ago 
had  been  a  nuisance.  Other  industries  also  sprang  up  and  the 
section  began  to  lose  its  purely  agricultural  character.  The 
opening  up  of  the  iron  deposits  in  Alabama,  the  mining  of  coal 
in  some  of  the  states,  the  attack  on  the  pine  forests,  all  made 
great  changes  in  Southern  conditions.  In  1880  Birmingham 
was  a  town  of  3,000  people,  and  in  1890  it  had  26,000  inhabi 
tants.  Atlanta,  Georgia,  the  heart  of  the  new  South,  became 
a  flourishing  business  center. 

The  extension  of  the  population,  the  building  up  of  new 
business,  and  the  building  up  of  great  railway  systems,  brought 
of  course  new  tasks  of  adjustment.  In  the  seventies  the  farmers 
of  the  middle  West  complained  of  discrimination  and  of  the 
high  charges  for  storing  their  wheat  and  corn.  They  no  longer 

1  In  1860,  3,841,416  bales;  in  1890,  8,562,089  bales;  in  1910,  12,005,688. 
The  value  of  manufactured  cotton,  North  and  South,  was  $115,681,000 
in  1860;  $267,981,000  in  1890;  $442,451,000  in  1910. 


MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  AMERICA— 1859-1903       487 


The  railroad 
problem. 


carried  their  grab  on  their  old  wagons  for  any  long  distance;  it 
was  hurried  away  on  the  railroads  and  stored  in  immense  eleva 
tors  to  be  ground  in* the  great  mills  or  shipped  far 
ther  on  to 
the  east 
ern  ports.  The  farmer 
was  no  longer  in  com 
mand  of  his  own  means 
of  transportation,  or, 
in  a  measure,  of  his 
own  product.  Then 
the  "Granger  Move 
ment",1  in  part  a 
protest  against  the 
railroads  and  the  exac 
tions  of  the  corpora 
tions  and  against  all 
forms  of  monopoly,  be 
gan.  Because  of  this 
opposition  legislation 
was  secured  concern 
ing  railroad  and  eleva 
tor  rates,  and  thus  was 
begun  the  effort  to  regulate  and  control  the  corporations.2 

xThe  National  Grange  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry  was  formed  in 
1867.  Some  years  passed  however  before  it  included  great  numbers.  In 
1874  there  were  22,000  granges  or  lodges,  with  a  total  membership  of  over 
800,000.  Their  purpose  was  the  improvement  of  the  farmers,  chiefly  by 
meeting  and  discussing  problems.  The  Grangers,  as  such,  commonly  dis 
claim  political  intention  or  the  use  of  legal  or  political  methods,  but^the 
agitation  against  monopolies  and  railway  extortions  sprang  largely  from 
the  farmers,  and  the  movement  is  commonly  called  the  "Granger  Move 
ment".  This  movement  was  not  the  same  in  all  respects  as  the  Farmers' 
Alliance  or  the  Populist  movement,  of  which  something  will  be  said  later. 
But  it  was  an  indication  of  a  sentiment  which  was  to  show  itself  in  many 
forms  in  the  course  of  the  next  generation.  The  Grange  still  remains  a 
social  association  among  farmers  and  a  means  of  education  through  dis 
cussion  of  matters  of  interest. 

2  This  legislation  brought  difficult  constitutional  questions.  Could  rates 
be  fixed  without  depriving  a  man  of  his  property  "without  due  process  of 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood 

A  MODERN  GRAIN  ELEVATOR 


488  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

The  railroads  in  fierce  competition,  and  often,  in  their  eager 
ness  to  get  business,  without  much  consideration  of  whether  it 
paid  or  not,  resorted  to  various  kinds  of  under- 
n.  hand  practices.  "We  all  know,  everyone  knows", 
said  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Jr.,  in  1880,  before  a 
Congressional  commission,  "that  discrimination  in  railroad 
treatment  and  charges  does  exist  between  individuals  and  be 
tween  places.  ...  .  We  know  that  certain  large  business 
firms,  the  leviathans  of  modern  trade,  can  and  do  state  their 
own  terms  between  rival  [railroad]  corporations,  while  the  small 
concern  must  accept  the  best  terms  it  can  get.  It  is  beyond 
dispute  that  business  is  carried  hither  and  thither — to  this 
point,  away  from  that  point,  and  through  the  other  point — 
not  because  it  would  naturally  go  to,  away  from,  or  through, 
those  points,  but  because  the  rates  are  made  on  an  artificial 
basis  to  serve  ulterior  ends".  Rebating  was  indulged  in;  that 
is,  a  secret  return  of  a  portion  of  the  freight  charge  to  a  favored 
firm  or  corporation.  As  these  practices  became  known,  strong 
opposition  was  awakened;  the  old  highway  had  been  free  to 
all  on  equal  terms,  why  not  the  railroad  ?  The  public  felt  that 
business  should  not  be  promoted  or  hampered,  built  up  or 
crushed,  at  the  whim  of  the  owners  of  the  iron  highways,  and 
that  big  business  should  not  be  given  unfair  advantage  by  being 
allowed  to  transport  its  products  at  such  low  rates  that  "the 
little  man"  bore  the  real  burden,  perhaps  even  made  good  the 
loss  involved  in  carrying  the  big  man's  goods. 

Congress  has  no  right  under  the  Constitution  to  regulate 
commerce  solely  between  places  within  a  single  state.  Inter- 
law"";  that  is,  could  the  legislature,  by  saying  what  a  man  or  a  corporation 
could  get  for  the  use  of  his  property,  actually  lower  the  value  of  his  prop 
erty?  The  courts  said  that  here  was  a  question  for  the  legislature;  but  they 
said  also  a  few  years  later  that  rates  fixed  by  the  legislature  or  by  commis 
sion  must  be  reasonable;  thus  the  courts  had  something  to  say  about  the 
ameunt  of  rates  fixed.  There  arose  also  the  question  as  to  whether  a  state 
could  by  fixing  rates  interfere  with  inter-state  traffic,  for  Congress  is  given 
by  the  Constitution  right  to  control  inter-state  and  foreign  commerce.  It 
was  evident  that  direct  control  of  inter-state  rates  was  beyond  the  power* 
of  a  state. 


MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  AMERICA— 1859-1903       489 

state  and  foreign  commerce  is,  however,  subject  to  congressional 
regulation  and  control.1     The  time  had  come  for  Congress  to 

act.  In  1887  an  Interstate  Commerce  Act  was 
conferee  Act.  Passed.  One  of  its  important  clauses  provided 

that  no  common  carrier  should  charge  more 
"for  a  shorter  haul  than  for  longer  distance  over  the  same  line, 
in  the  same  direction,  the  shorter  being  included  within  the 
longer  distance".  The  "short  and  long  haul  clause"  was  in 
tended  to  prevent  discriminations  between  places.  Provision 
was  also  made  against  rebates.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a 
serious  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  federal  government  to 
regulate  interstate  commerce.  A  commission  of  five  per 
sons  was  appointed  to  administer  the  law.  Despite  many 
difficulties  and  embarrassments  the  commission  soon  accom 
plished  something  in  the  way  of  bettering  conditions;  but 
as  we  shall  see  the  passing  years  showed  the  need  of  further 
legislation. 

The  development  of  big  business  brought  up  the  "trust 
problem,"  though  it  was  only  dimly  seen  at  the  time.    In  1890 

Congress   passed    the    Sherman    Anti-trust    Act, 

the  trusts.  ...  ,   A.  ,  .  ,,.  .    ^      ' 

providing  against  the  combination  in  restraint  of 
trade".  But  it  remained  for  years  almost  a  dead  letter  on  the 
statute  book,  while  new  combinations  sprang  up  on  every  hand. 
Some  years  passed  before  public  sentiment  strongly  demanded 
its  enforcement. 

While  in  the  years  of  industrial  combination  and  growth, 
great  factories  and  railway  systems  were  coming  into  being, 
labor,  too,  was  beginning  to  organize.    Strife  be 
tween  labor  and  capital  entered  upon  dangerous 
ground.    There  was  in  the  olden  time  -little  chance  for  serious 
differences,  but  every  cause  adding  to  the  concentration  of  in 
dustry  also  multiplied  the  numbers  of  workingmen  and  brought 
thousands  of  them  together,  dependent  for  their  wages  and  their 
Comfort  on  the  factory  6wrievrs.     The  new  industrial  system 
brought  in  danger  of  class  Division  and  the  absence  of  sym- 

1  See  Constitution,  Art.  I,  Sec.  8,  §  3- 


490 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


pathy  and  of  fellow  feeling  between  employer  and  employed.1 
In  1877  the  first  great  strike  occurred.  The  commencement 
of  the  trouble  was  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  but  it 
quickly  spread  to  all  the  lines  east  of  the  Mississippi.  The 


THE  RAILWAY  STRIKE  OF  1877 

Rioters  stopping  a  train  on  the  Erie  R.R.     From  a  contemporary 
illustration  in  Leslie's  Weekly 

strikers  took  forcible  possession  of  the  tracks  at  the  principal 
junctions  and  prevented  the  forwarding  of  goods  or  the  dis 
patching  of  passenger  trains.  The  whole  internal  commerce 
of  the  country  was  thrown  into  confusion.  Fights  between 
mobs  and  the  police  authorities  took  place,  and  the  militia  was 
called  out  to  suppress  rioting.  When  state  troops  failed  to 
suppress  violence,  the  Federal  army  was  called  in  for  the  pur 
pose.  The  most  serious  disorder  was  in  Pittsburg,  where  angry 

1  Naturally  this  was  not  all  new.  There  were  troubles  before  the  Civil 
War  and  movements  for  labor  organization.  It  was,  however,  the  trans 
formation  of  the  later  years,  the  coming  of  the  time  when  workmen  were 
gathered  in  thousands,  when  the  little  shop  that  had  made  things  began  to 
go,  that  the  new  relationship  and  the  new  social  system  showed  themselves 
strongly. 


MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  AMERICA— 1859-1903       491 


and  excited  mobs  burned  and  pillaged  and  robbed,  and  where 
millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  property  was  destroyed.  After 
some  two  weeks  of  riot  and  disorder,  peace  was  restored,  the 
roads  began  to  carry  freight  and  passengers  as  of  old;  but  a 
picture  of  discord  had  been  held  up  to  the  public  gaze,  and  men 
saw  a  new  danger  of  social  discontent  and  bitterness. 

In  the  years  that  followed  there  were  many  other  strikes, 
most  of  them  of  a  purely  local  character.  There  was  the  awful 
Homestead  strike  of  1892.  In  1894  the  great  Chicago  strike 
almost  paralyzed  the  business  world,  for  it  affected  the  rail 
road  traffic  of  a  large  part  of  the  country's  industry.  Again 
Federal  troops  were 
called  out  and 
finally  restored 
peace.  As  the  years 
went  on,  the  strike 
in  one  form  or  an 
other  was  used  time 
and  time  again  to  A  MODERN  STEAM  LOCOMOTIVE 

gain  shorter  time  for  workmen,  or  higher  wages.  The  problem 
of  adjustment,  of  reaching  reasonable  relations  between  labor 
and  capital,  of  finding  peace  in  the  industrial  world,  a  peace 
not  bought  by  warfare  or  threats  of  violence,  came  to  be  a 
problem  of  the  utmost  interest.1 

Meanwhile  labor  unions  were  formed;  they  were  the  product 
of  the  new  life  of  the  workingman  and  of  the  new  conditions 
of  labor.  In  1869  the  Knights  of  Labor  was  es 
tablished;  though  the  order  grew  slowly  at  first, 
by  the  early  eighties  it  was  very  large.  An  assembly  in  1886 
was  said  to  represent  a  membership  of  over  300,000,  and  in  fact 

1  It  is  said  that  between  1881  and  1900  there  were  in  all  22,793  strikes; 
117,509  establishments,  and  over  6,000,000  workingmen  were  involved — 
a  sorry  tale,  on  the  whole,  of  unreasonableness  somewhere  and  somehow. 
The  right  and  wrong  of  all  this  cannot  be  said  in  a  word,  if  anybody  knows 
it.  We  only  know  that  if  civilization  is  to  grow  and:  prosper,  workingmen 
must  have  decent  compensation  and  good  conditions  of  work;  employers 
must  have  reasonable  freedom  and  independence;  justice  must  in  some 
way  be  reached  without  warfare  and  violence. 


Labor  unions. 


492  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

a  much  larger  membership  was  often  mentioned.  The  American 
Federation  of  Labor  also  became  a  powerful  order,  and  ere 
long  practically  supplanted  the  Knights  of  Labor.  It  was 
founded  at  an  earlier  time;  but  began  its  more  active  career 
after  1886,  when  it  took  its  present  name.  Its  membership 
increased  rapidly  till  in  1903  there  were  1,500,000  persons 
on  its  rolls.  The  union,  though  often  resorting  to  strikes  to 
attain  its  ends,  is  primarily  for  the  general  improvement  of  the 
social  as  well  as  laboring  conditions  of  the  workingman.  These 
immense  bodies  with  their  able  leaders  have  almost  unlimited 
opportunities  for  good  and  evil  in  the  development  of  American 
civilization.1 

REFERENCES 

WILSON,  Division  and  Reunion,  Chapter  XIII;  DUNNING,  Re 
construction,  Political  and  Economic,  Chapter  IX;  SPARKS,  National 
Development,  Chapters  I-V,  XVIII;  DEWEY,  National  Problems, 
Chapters  I,  III,  VI,  XII;  COMAN,  Economic  Beginnings  of  the  Far 
West. 

1  The  American  Federation  of  Labor  in  1903  put  forth  the  following  series 
of  desires:  (i)  Compulsory  Education;  (2)  Repeal  of  all  conspiracy  and 
penal  laws  affecting  seamen  and  other  workmen;  (3)  The  eight-hour  day;  (4) 
Sanitary  inspection  of  shops,  mines,  and  homes;  (5)  Liability  of  employers 
for  injury  to  workmen;  (6)  Abolition  of  contract  system  in  public  works; 
(7)  Abolition  of  sweating  system;  (8)  City  ownership  of  street  cars,  gas 
works,  etc.;  (9)  National  ownership  of  telegraphs,  telephones,  railroads, 
and  mines;  (10)  Abolition  of  monopoly  system  of  land  holding;  (n)  Direct 
legislation  and  the  referendum;  (12)  Abolition  of  the  "monopoly  privilege" 
of  issuing  money,  which  should  be  issued  by  and  to  the  people. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  is  a  program  of  wide  and  deep  political  and 
social  significance. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


TWELVE  YEARS  OF   PARTY  DISCUSSION;   THE  TARIFF 
AND  SILVER 

The  twelve  or  fourteen  years  after  Grover  Cleveland l 
came  to  the  presidential  chair — the  first  Democratic  president 
since  Buchanan — were  taken  up,  as  far  as  party 
term  1885-1897.  controversy  and  governmental  action  were  con 
cerned,  with  old  problems  and  with  new;  s.ome  of 
them  growing  out  of  the  new  industrial  order,  others  like  the 
tariff  as  old  as  the  Government,  (i)  There  was  the  duty  of 
enforcing  the  new  civil  service  regulations,  the  duty  of  con 
scientious  enforcement  in  the  spirit 
of  the  new  system.  (2)  Legislation 
was  demanded  for  the  control  of 
the  railroads,  whose  development 
during  the  preceding  twenty  years 
had  been  so  marked.  (3)  Then  the 
money  question,  the  coinage  of  sil 
ver,  and  its  attendant  problems  re 
quired  attention.  (4)  The  old 
tariff  question  was  more  insistent 
than  ever,  for  money  was  piling  up 
in  the  treasury  of  the  United  States, 
inviting  wasteful  expenditures  and 
extravagant  appropriations.  (5)  In 

1  Cleveland  was  president  trom  March  4,  1885,  to  March  4,  1889;  and 
was  re-elected  for  one  term  in  1892.  He  had  held  no  national  office  when 
he  was  called  upon  to  take  up  the  duties  of  the  presidency.  He  first  won 
attention  by  his  services  as  Mayor  of  Buffalo.  In  1882  he  was  elected  Gov 
ernor  of  New  York,  in  which  position  he  won  the.  confidence  of  the  people 
by  the  directness  of  his  methods  and  the  fearlessness  with  which  he  opposed 
measures  which  seemed  to  him  harmful  to  the  public  interests. 

493 


494  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

course  of  time,  there  were,  too,  delicate  questions  of  adjust 
ment  with  foreign  nations. 

Vice-President  Hendricks  died  in  November,  1885.     This 
called  attention  once  more  to  the  desirability  of  changing  the 
line  of  succession  to  the  presidency,  in  case  of  the 
Presidential        death  of  the  President  and  Vice-President  or  their 
inability  to  act.    At  the  next  session  of  Congress 


a  bill  was  passed  providing  that  in  such  a  con 
tingency  the  Secretary  of  State  should  succeed,  and,  if  the 
necessity  should  by  any  possibility  arise,  the  other  members 
of  the  Cabinet  should  assume  the  duties  of  the  presidential 
office  in  the  following  order:  (i)  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
(2)  Secretary  of  War,  (3)  Attorney-General,  (4)  Postmaster- 
General,  (5)  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  (6)  Secretary  of  the  In 
terior.  The  law  applies  only  to  such  persons  as  are  constitu 
tionally  eligible.1  The  Electoral  Count  Act  also  became  law. 
Its  object  is  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such 
disPutes  as  that  of  l876>  by  providing  that  the 
States  themselves  shall  provide  for  the  final 
"determination  of  controversies"  concerning  the  election  of 
presidential  electors. 

President  Cleveland  had  hard  work  in  carrying  out  a  wise 

and  generous  policy  of  appointments  and  removal  from  office. 

The  Civil  Service  Act  was  but  a  beginning;   there 

Civil  Service. 

were  still  many  thousands  of  offices  whose  oc 
cupants  could  be  summarily  removed.  Possibly  it  can  justly 
be  said  that  the  President  did  not  struggle  with  his  usual 
tenacity  against  the  eager  hordes  of  office-seekers  who  de 
manded  the  immediate  fruits  of  victory.  2  At  all  events  Repub- 


1The  Constitution,  art.  ii,  sec.  i,  §  6. 

2  Cleveland  was  sometimes  misled  by  the  recommendations  of  party  lead 
ers  and  lost  all  patience  with  their  persistence,  and  the  tendency  of  some  of 
them  to  lead  him  astray.  The  story  is  told,  perhaps  not  a  trustworthy  tale, 
that  one  day  when  a  Democratic  leader  complained  because  the  President 
did  not  act  more  quickly,  Cleveland  sharply  retorted,  "  I  suppose  you  mean 
that  I  should  appoint  two  horse  thieves  a  day,  instead  of  one".  Let  us 
believe  the  story  is  an  exaggeration,  if  the  thing  happened  at  all;  but  the 


TWELVE  YEARS  OF  PARTY  DISCUSSION          495 

lican  office-holders  disappeared  with  great  rapidity.  The 
President  was  under  tremendous  pressure,  and  some  of  his  sub 
ordinates  had  no  patience  with  a  system  which  would  retain 
Republican  office-holders,  who  had  been  appointed  in  many 
cases  purely  for  partisan  reasons.  In  later  days  Cleveland  said 
in  referring  to  those  trying  days,  "You  know  the  things  in 
which  I  yielded,  but  no  one  save*  myself  can  ever  know  the 
things  which  I  resisted  ".  Some  years  had  to  pass  before  the 
public  mind  could  see  the  whole  spoils  system  aright  and  before 
intense  partisans  could  view  it  justly. 

In  1887,  the  Interstate  Commerce  Act,  of  which  we  have 

spoken,  went  into  effect.     The  President  appointed  an  able 

Commission  with  Judge  Thomas  M.   Cooley  of 

The  interstate     Michigan  at  its  head.    The  long  struggle  for  rail- 
Commerce 
Commission.       r°ad  regulations  and  control  was  bravely  begun. 

It  is  an  amazing  fact  that  up  to  this  time  even 
statistics  of  the  railroad  business  had  not  been  collected  sys 
tematically  by  the  Government. 

The  President  showed  rare  courage  in  taking  up  the  money 
question.  On  this  point  he  never  faltered,  though  sooner  or  later 
he  met  with  sharpest  criticism  and  estranged  a  large  portion  of 
his  party.  In  his  first  annual  message,  in  December  of  1885,  he 
called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  condition  of  the  currency. 
He  showed  that  only  fifty  million  dollars,  out  of 
question.  nearly  two  hundred  and  sixteen  million  silver 

dollars  coined  in  accordance  with  the  Bland- 
Allison  act,1  had  gone  into  circulation,  and  he  declared  that  the 
continuance  of  silver  coinage  would  bring  the  Government  to 
the  pass  when  it  would  have  only  silver  money,  which  would 
mean  that  the  currency  would  be  let  down  to  a  lower  standard 


tale  discloses  a  situation.  It  reminds  one  of  a  story  of  the  milder  Lincoln, 
who  was  one  day  walking  the  floor  of  his  office  in  deep  perplexity  and  appar 
ent  gloom.  Some  one  present  inquired  if  he  had  bad  news  from  the  front, 
news  always  looked  for  and  feared  in  the  dreariest  days  of  the  war.  "No", 
answered  Lincoln;  "it  is  the  postmastership  at  Brownsville". 

1  Paper  certificates  were  issued  under  this  act,  and  were  taken  by  the 
people  instead  of  the  silver  they  represented. 


496  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

of  value,  inasmuch  as  the  silver  in  a  dollar  was  not  worth  a  dol 
lar  in  gold.  Nothing  was  done  by  Congress  regarding  the 
matter.  It  was  believed  by  many  that  the  President's  fears 
were  fanciful.  Some,  on  the  other  hand,  favored  the  "free 
coinage"  of  silver;  in  other  words,  they  desired  that  the  Gov 
ernment  should  do  more  than  simply  purchase  a  limited  amount 
of  the  metal  and  coin  it;  they  desired  that  it  should  coin  into 
dollars,  freely  and  without  limit,  all  the  silver  bullion  that 
might  be  brought  *o  the  mints.  These  persons  declared  that 
the  reason  for  the  fall  of  silver  in  price  in  comparison  with  gold 
was  because  the  Government  made  discrimination  in  favor  of 
the  latter  metal.  Other,  persons,  not  going  so  far  as  to  favor 
free  coinage,  saw  no  great  danger  in  existing  conditions,  and  no 
law  was  passed,  nor  was  the  time  yet  ripe  for  the  money  question 
to  become  a  party  issue. 

The  tariff  was  met  with  the  same  boldness  as  the  silver 
problem.  When  Congress  met  in  December,  1887,  the  Presi 
dent  sent  in  a  message  dealing  exclusively  with 
tfreetSariff!US  ld  the  one  subject  of  the  tariff.  There  was  little 
doubt  among  men  of  either  party  that  the  surplus 
was  too  large,  and  many  felt  that  it  was  a  serious  source  of 
danger,  because  it  was  a  continuing  temptation  to  extrava 
gance  or  to  hasty  and  unwise  legislation.  The  President  argued 
strenuously  in  favor  of  a  reduction  of  duties.  While  advocating 
the  imposition  of  lower  duties  on  raw  materials  used  in  manu 
facturing,  he  called  special  attention  to  the  tariff  on  wool, 
which  he  declared  constituted  "a  tax  fastened  upon  the  cloth 
ing  of  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the  land".  This  mes 
sage  was  one  of  great  importance,  because,  under  this  spur, 
the  President's  party  set  earnestly  at  work  to  revise  the  tariff 
and  lower  the  duties.  A  bill  directed  to  that  end  could  not 
be  passed  through  Congress  at  that  session,  but  the  tariff 
necessarily  became  the  great  question  of  the  presidential  can 
vass  of  that  year.1 

1  It  is  sometimes  said  that  a  tariff  which  fills  the  Treasury  to  overflow 
ing  is  better  than  one  which  does' not;  or  that  an  over-full  treasury  is  better 


TWELVE  YEARS  OF  PARTY  DISCUSSION          497 

For  the  election  of  1888  the  Democrats  renominated  Cleve 
land,  and  gave  the  second  place  on  the  ticket  to  Allen  G.  Thur- 

man,  of  Ohio.  They  declared  that  all  "unneces- 
J8h8ylectionof  sary  taxation  is  unjust  taxation",1  that  the  policy 

of  the  party  was  "to  enforce  frugality  in  the 
public  expenses",  that  a  vast  sum  of  money  was  being  "drawn 
from  the  people 'and  the  channels  of  trade  and  accumulated 
as  a  demoralizing  surplus  in  the  national  Treasury".  The 
Republicans  nominated  Benjamin  Harrison,  of  Indiana,  and 
Levi  P.  Morton,  of  New  York.  They  announced  that  they  were 
"uncompromisingly  in  favor  of  the- American  system  of  protec 
tion".  They  declared  that  they  favored  reduction  of  the  revenue 
by  repealing  the  taxes  on  tabacco  and  "spirits  used  in  the  arts", 
and  would  prefer  the  entire  repeal  of  the  internal  taxes  to  a 
"surrender  of  any  part  of  our  protective  system".  Candidates 
were  also  put  in  the  field  by  the  Prohibition  party,  and  nomina 
tions  were  made  by  a  number  of  other  parties  whose  existence 
was  indicative  of  discontent  among  many  of  the  people,  espe 
cially  the  workmen  and  farmers.  The  Republicans  were 
successful  in  the  election,  carrying  all  the  Northern  States 
except  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut.  It  was  plain  that  Cleve 
land's  vigorous  and  downright  personality  had  not  captivated 
the  people  at  large,  though  many  admired  his  frankness  and 
determination.  He  had  made  enemies  too,  among  the  political 
workers,  and  there  was  some  uneasiness  in  business  circles. 


than  an  empty  one.  Perhaps  it  is  better,  but  if  the  tariff  is  a  tax  on  the  con 
sumer  too  much  taxation  can  hardly  be  better  than  less.  Even  if  we  differ 
as  to  whether  the  consumer  or  the  foreign  producer  pays  the  tax,  we  should 
not  differ  in  the  belief  that  a  large  treasury  surplus  has  its  actual  dangers 
as  a  source  of  thoughtless  or  extravagant,  perhaps  even  corrupt,  appropri 
ations.  In  1886  it  was  estimated  that  the  next  year  would  show  a  surplus 
of  $140,000,000  in  the  Treasury.  Cleveland  knew  that  his  message  would 
arouse  hostility.  "It  is  more  important  to  Congress",  he  said,  "that  this 
message  should  be  delivered  to  Congress  and  the  people,  than  that  I  should 
be  re-elected  president".  Parties  still  differ  about  the  tariff,  but  no  one 
can  doubt  the  strength  of  Cleveland's  conviction  and  honest  belief. 

1  This  meant  a  high  tariff,  which,  the  Democrats  asserted,  took  unnec 
essary  money  from  the  people. 
33 


498  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Perhaps  his  tariff  message  made  his  re-election  impossible  at 
that  time. 

Benjamin  Harrison,  grandson  of  William  Henry  Harrison, 
ninth  President  of  the  United  States,  was  educated  in  Ohio, 
graduating  from  Miami  University.  After  leav 
ing  college  he  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the  bar, 
and  began  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Indian 
apolis.  Soon  after  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  entered  the 
army  as  a( colonel,  and  won  distinction  for  bravery  and  efficiency, 

leaving  the  service  as  a  brevet  brig 
adier  general.  He  was  elected  sen 
ator  from  Indiana  in  1880,  and 
showed  in  the  Senate  marked 
ability  and  capacity.  As  president 
he  was  able,  painstaking,  and  just, 
but  he  lacked  in  marked  degree 
the  power  of  leadership,  or  at 
least  the  capacity  for  winning  men 
by  gracious  address.  Blaine,  who 
became  his  Secretary  of  State,  was 
still  the  idol  of  many  people,  and 
probably  more  than  any  other  man 
the  leader  of  his  party.  Senator 
Hoar  once  said,  "Blaine  would 
refuse  a  request  in  a  way  that 
would  seem  like  doing  a  favor;  Harrison  would  grant  a  re 
quest  in  a  way  which  would  seem  like  denying  it". 

Blaine  entered  heartily  into  the  tasks  of  administration 
and  of  leadership.    Foremost  among  his  plans  was  to  widen  the 
influence  and  extend  the  trade  of  the  United  States 
The  Pan-          m  j^e  Western  hemisphere.    As  a  means  to  this 
Congress.          end,   the  Pan-American   Congress,   composed  of 
delegates  from  the  principal  states  of  the  New 
World,  met  at  Washington,  and  for  some  months  discussed 
subjects  of  common  interest.    It  resulted  in  the  establishment 
of  the  Bureau  of  American  Republics,  which  in  later  years  be 
came  the  Pan-American  Union. 


TWELVE  YEARS  OF  PARTY  DISCUSSION          499 

There  were  enough  foreign  troubles  in  Harrison's  time  to 
give  plenty  of  occupation  for  even  the  energetic*  mind  and  the 
rapidly  moving  pen  of  his  Secretary,  "the  Plumed 
Treble  with  j^j  ht^  Serious  trouble  arose  with  Chili  (1891), 
arising  out  of  an  insurrection  in  that  republic, 
in  the  course  of  which  the  American  minister  had  opened  his 
house  as  a  place  of  security  to  the  refugees.  This  he  had  the 
right  to  do;  but  the  people  of  Chili  believed  that  he  had  been 
over-officious,  and,  at  all  events,  they  cherished  resentment 
against  Americans.  When  a  party  of  American  seamen  were 
attacked  in  the  streets  of  Valparaiso,  the  situation  assumed 
alarming  proportions.  It  even  looked  as  if  war  might  follow, 
but  after  a  time  Chili  sent  "conciliatory  and  friendly"  assur 
ances  of  regret  and  the  affair  blew  over. 

With  Italy  relations  were  strained  for  a  time,  because  a 
mob  in  New  Orleans  broke  into  a  jail  and  killed  several  Italian 
and  with  Italy  prisoners.  The  provocation  for  this  mob  violence 
appears  to  have  been  great,  for  the  Italians  were, 
it  seems,  nothing  but  brigands,  who  had  been  plying  their 
trade  of  murder  and  pillage  in  the  city.  It  is  one  thing,  how 
ever,  to  punish  criminals  by  legal  process,  and  another  to  break 
into  jail  and  shoot  them  down.  Italy  strongly  protested  against 
the  action  of  the  mob,  and  even  withdrew  her  minister  from 
this  country.  The  United  States  government  finally  restored 
friendly  relations  by  giving,  as  an  indication  of  good  will,  money 
to  the  widows  and  orphans  of  the  dead  Italians.  With  Eng 
land,  too,  there  were  complications  and  differences,  this  time 
over  the  seal  fisheries  in  Behring  Sea.  Secretary  Elaine  pre 
sented  the  American  claim  with  confidence  and  in 
trnd'samofT  extreme  form,  but  an  end  was  not  reached  during 
his  term  of  office.  With  Germany  and  England 
there  arose  a  dispute  about  the  ownership  of  the  Samoan 
Islands.  This  was  much  discussed,  some  of  the  time  not  over- 
pleasantry,  especially  between  Germany  and  America,  but 
temporary  adjustment  was  reached.  Some  years  later  the 
three  countries  settled  their  differences  by  a  division  of  the 
islands  (1899-1900),  the  United  States  obtaining  Tutuila. 


500  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Of  more  importance  than  any  one  of  the  other  diplomatic 
affairs,  was  the  proposed  Annexation  of  Hawaii.  This  matter 
arose  toward  the  close  of  Harrison's  term,  after 
Elaine  had  resigned  his  position.  A  rebellion 
broke  out  in  the  islands  and  annexation  to  the  United  States 
was  sought  by  the  victorious  revolutionists,  most  of  whom 
were  American  by  birth  or  descent.  A  treaty,  providing  for 
annexation,  was  speedily  concluded,  but  before  final  action 
was  taken,  the  Harrison  administration  came  to  an  end.  Cleve 
land,  who  followed  him,  believing  that  wrong  had  been  done 
by  the  participation  of  American  seamen  and  American  officials 
in  the  uprising,  withdrew  the  treaty  from  the  Senate.  Five 
years  later  (1898)  the  islands  were  annexed  by  joint  resolution 
of  both  houses  of  Congress. 

The  Republicans  gallantly  took  up  the  gauge  of  battle  on  the 
tariff.  If  the  Cleveland  Democrats  wanted  reduction,  not  sc 
the  eager  Republicans,  who  claimed  that  protec- 
Bii?  1890  Cy  tion  guarded  the  American  manufacturer  and 
working  man.  Congress  passed  the  famous 
McKinley  Bill.  It  was  a  high  protective  measure,  increasing 
the  duties  on  many  imported  articles.  Elaine,  however,  a 
staunch  protectionist  though  he  was,  did  not  believe  that  the 
trade  with  South  America  could  be  built  up  as  long  as  high  tariff 
rates  were  rigorously  enforced,  and  partly  because  of  his  earnest 
efforts,  the  bill  was  made  to  include  a  reciprocity  provision. 
It  was  provided  that  the  President  could  by  proclamation 
impose  a  duty  on  sugar  and  certain  other  commodities  coming 
.  from  countries  that  placed  import  duties  upon  our 

products,  if  in  the  President's  opinion  such  duties 
were  "reciprocally  unequal  and  unreasonable",  under  'the 
circumstances.  This  was  practically  an  offer  to  the  countries  of 
Central  and  South  America  and  the  West  Indies  to  allow  their 
goods  to  come  in  free,  if  they  would  in  return  admit  our  products 
free;  but  it  proposed  to  reach  the  end  rather  by  threats  of  re 
taliation  than  by  methods  of  conciliation. 

In  the  middle  of  the  summer  that  part  of  the  Eland-Allison 
Act  providing  for  the  purchase  of  silver  bullion  was  repealed, 


TWELVE  YEARS  OF  PARTY  DISCUSSION          501 

and  in  its  place  the  Sherman  Act  was  passed,  which  provided 
that  the  Government  should  purchase  each  month  at  the  mar 
ket  price  four  and  a  half  million  ounces  of  such 
Act*  fspo1™111  bullion.  In  payment  for  the  silver  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  was  to  give  out  Treasury  notes 
that  were  to  be  full  legal  tender.  The  silver  so  bought  was  not 
to  be  coined  into  money  except  as  it  might  be  needed  to  re 
deem  notes  presented  for  redemption.  By  this  measure,  there 
fore,  the  Government  practically  ceased  to  coin  silver  dollars, 
but  became  the  possessor  of  a  constantly  increasing  quantity 
of  the  metal.  This  was  "doing  something  for  silver"  as  the 
phrase  went,  but  it  did  not  solve  the  silver  problem  or  settle 
the  money  question.  Every  day  silver  piled  up  in  the  Treasury; 
every  day  added  to  the  seriousness  of  the  situation,  and  we 
shall  see  that  as  the  years  went  by  there  was  increasing  trouble 
until  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  became  the  over 
mastering  issue  of  the  hour. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  there  was  a  great  dis 
cussion  over  the  rules.     It  had  long  been  customary  for  a  mi 
nority  to  block  the  progress  of  lawmaking  by  re- 
Ruies  in  the       fusing  to  vote.     A  person  not  voting  was  not 

House,  3  i          r 

i889-'9o.  counted   as   present,    and   a   quorum,    therefore, 

could  be  obtained  for  the  passage  of  a  measure  only 
when  the  majority  could  secure  the  presence  of  more  than  half 
of  all  the  members  of  the  House.  Thomas  B.  Reed,  the  Speaker, 
interfered  with  the  "filibustering"  tactics  of  the  Democratic 
minority l  in  the  House  by  counting  as  part  of  the  quorum  all 
who  were  present,  whether  they  voted  or  not.  This  power  was 
afterward  given  him  by  the  rules  adopted  by  the  House.2 

1  It  should  be  noticed  that  the  Republicans  had  used  like  tactics  when 
in  the  minority. 

2  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Speaker  of  the  House  is  not,  and  in 
deed  does  not  pretend  to  be,  the  impartial  presiding  officer  of  an  assembly, 
as  does  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons.    The  contrasts  between  the 
English  and  American  systems  are  more  striking  than  the  similarities.    The 
American  Speaker  is  ostensibly  and  actually  a  party  leader;  he  feels  the 
responsibility  for  what  is  done  in  the  House,  and  is  so  completely  a  master 
of  the  situation  that  no  act  can  pass  without  his  sanction.    By  refusing  to 


502  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

During  these  years  there  was  much  discussion  concerning 
improved  methods  of  election.1  This  was  the  beginning  of  the 

"recognize"  a  member  offering  or  advocating  a  measure  to  which  he  is 
opposed  he  can  keep  such  measures  from  coming  before  the  House;  he 
long  possessed  the  right  to  appoint  the  committees,  and  thus  could  deter 
mine  the  general  character  of  legislation  by  the  organization  of  the  com 
mittees.  Probably  no  Speaker  uses  this  power  selfishly  and  arbitrarily; 
some  leadership  and  responsibility  are  absolutely  necessary  in  a  body  like 
the  House  of  Representatives,  and  such  leadership  has  in  the  course  of  a 
century  come  to  be  centered  in  the  Speaker. 

For  some  two  decades  after  Reed  had  disclosed  the  tremendous  power 
of  the  Speaker's  office  there  was  little  change.  In  1910,  however,  a  rising 
against  the  power  of  Speaker  Cannon  in  the  House  resulted  in  taking  away 
some  of  the  Speaker's  power.  The  committees  of  the  next  Congress,  a  Dem 
ocratic  Congress,  were  appointed  partly  by  the  caucus  of  the  party 
in  the  House;  the  caucus,  i.  e.  all  the  members  of  the  party,  chose 
the  majority  members  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,  the  commit 
tee  charged  with  the  bills  for  raising  money,  tariff  measures,  and  the  like; 
then  these  committee  members  chose  the  majority  members  of  the  other 
committees.  The  "leader  of  the  House"  on  the  minority  side  chose,  in 
1910,  the  minority  members  of  the  committees.  No  one  can  tell  how  long 
such  methods  will  last. 

1  There  are  few  changes  or  movements  in  our  history  more  important. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  in  1831-' 32  the  National  Convention  was  es 
tablished;  in  the  states  a  similar  method  of  naming  officers  for  state  posi 
tions  had  already  begun  or  was  being  established.  The  convention  system 
did  not  by  its  reoresentation  system  give  the  people  control  of  their  own 
affairs;  it  was  controlled  largely  by  the  machine,  honest  or  dishonest.  The 
long  struggle  over  the  slavery  question  and  the  war  checked  what  might 
have  been  done,  perhaps,  in  the  way  of  working  out  better  methods  of  nom- 
'nation  and  of  balloting.  Parties  had  all  the  election  machinery  in  their 
hands;  parties  or  party  candidates  printed  and  distributed  the  ballots;  the 
whole  thing  was,  so  to  speak,  a  private  affair.  Then  came  the  demand  for 
ballot  reform  in  the  eighties.  The  state  by  the  new  law  prints  the  bal 
lots,  and  booths  are  provided  in  which  the  voter  marks  his  ticket.  It  is  a 
curious  fact  that  until  that  time  we  did  not  have  the  much  talked-of  "se 
cret  ballot";  any  "watcher"  at  the  polls  could  know  fairly  accurately  how 
any  one  voted.  These  new  laws  were  a  great  step  forward,  but  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years  (in  the  early  part  of  the  twentieth  century)  there  came 
further  demands;  the  "direct  primary"  was  demanded,  whereby  the  voters 
of  the  party  under  the  same  restrictions  and  with  the  same  opportunities 
as  at  an  election  were  to  be  allowed  to  go  to  the  polls  and  cast  their  votes 
for  men  whom  they  wanted  their  party  to  nominate.  The  old  caucus  of 
the  party  in  wards  or  townships  which  nominated  officers  or  selected  dele 
gates  to  a  convention  of  many  wards  or  townships  met  for  a  few  minutes 


TWELVE  YEARS  OF  PARTY  DISCUSSION          503 

wave  of  election  reform,  of  the  effort  to  manage  elections  and  to 
make  nominations  for  office  with  regard  for  popular  desire.    It 

Ballot  reform  was  tnen  customary  ^ or  tne  political  committees 
of  the  contesting  parties  in  the  various  states 
or  in  the  minor  civil  divisions  of  the  states  to  furnish  the  bal 
lots  used  at  the  election,  and  no  means  was  offered  whereby  a 
voter  might  prepare  and  cast  his  ballot  in  secret.  A  number 
of  States  now  passed  measures  that  were  similar  to  or  partly 
in  imitation  of  the  Australian  laws  on  the  subject.  These  acts 
provide  generally  for  the  erection  of  small  booths,  into  which 
the  voter  can  go  to  prepare  his  ballot,  and  for  the  furnishing  of 
tickets  at  public  expense.  The  candidates  of  all  parties  are 
placed  on  the  same  piece  of  paper,  and  but  one  ticket  is  given 
to  each  elector.  In  this  way  the  opportunities  for  bribery  and 
fraud  are  lessened,  since  those  who  desire  to  use  corrupt  methods 
hesitate  to  purchase  a  man's  vote  when,  because  of  the  secrecy 
in  which  the  ballot  is  prepared  and  cast,  they  cannot  be  sure 
that  the  person  who  has  been  bribed  has  fulfilled  his  agreement. 
Elaine  had  made  a  strong  impression  on  many  men  in  the 
party  and  in  the  country  by  his  vigorous  and  rather  vehement 
foreign  policy,  and  won  some  adherents  by  his  ad- 

Election  of  ....  . 

1892.  vocacy  of  reciprocity;  but  the  coveted  nomination 

for  the  presidency  was  not  for  him.    Harrison  was 
re-nominated  in  1892.      Cleveland  was  again  nominated  by  the 
Democrats;  and  thus  the  contest  was  between  old  rivals,  and  the 
issues  of  the  campaign  were  not  essentially  different 
platform"1         from  those  of  four  years  before.    The  Republicans 
reaffirmed  the  doctrine  of  protection,  and  assert 
ed  that  reciprocity  was  a  success  and  would  "  eventually  give 
us  the  control  of  the   trade  of   the   world";    they  declared 

or  an  hour  or  two,  in  the  evening  probably,  in  a  grocery  store  or  an  empty 
shop,  and  after  hasty  organization  rushed  through  its  work,  as  if  the  nam 
ing  of  men  for  office  were  not  one  of  the  most  vital  duties  of  a  people  who 
would  be  free  and  well  served.  The  direct  primary  keeps  the  polls  open  all 
day,  and  voting  for  nomination  is  carefully  guarded  by  law.  No  people,  it 
may  be  said  again,  have  control  over  their  own  government  if  they  allow  a 
few  men  in  secret  conclave  to  manage  their  affairs  for  them;  the  choice  of 
officers  is  in  itself  a  great  part  of  the  business  of  self-government. 


504  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

that  the  people  favored  bimetallism,1  and  the  party  desirea 
"the  use  of  both  gold  and  silver  as  standard  money". 

The  Democrats  denounced  "Republican  protection  as  a 
fraud,  a  robbery  of  the  great  majority  of  the  American  people 
for  the  benefit  of  the  few".  They  declared  that  the 
Sherman  Act  was  "a  cowardly  makeshift  fraught 
with  possibilities  of  danger  ",  but,  like  the  Repub 
licans,  favored  "  the  use  of  both  gold  and  silver  as  the  standard 
money  of  the  country".  A  newly  formed  party,  called  the 
People's,  or  Populist,  party,  nominated  James  B.  Weaver,  of 
Iowa,  and  James  G.  Field,  of  Virginia.  Their  platform  de 
manded  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver  and  gold,  at 
the  ratio  of  16  to  i,  a  graduated  income  tax,2  and  the  public 
ownership  of  telegraphs  ard  railroads;  it  declared  that  the  two 
old  parties  were  simply  struggling  for  power  and 
plunder,  and  that  they  had  agreed  together  "to 
drown  the  outcries  of  a  plundered  people  with  the 
uproar  of  a  sham  battle  over  the  tariff".  The  Prohibitionists 
and  the  Socialistic-Labor  party  also  made  nominations. 

Cleveland  was  elected,  receiving  277  out  of  a  total  of  444 
electoral  votes.     The   Democrats   obtained   control   of  both 
houses  of  Congress,  and  so  had  the  Government 
completely    in    their    hands.      Elaine   had   been 
right  when  he  predicted  that  the  McKinley  tariff 
provided  for  so  much  protection  that  it  would  "protect  the 
Republican  party  into  speedy  retirement". 

The   tasks   of   Cleveland's   second   administration    (1893- 
1897)  were  much  like  those  of  his  first  term, — still  the  tariff 

1  Bimetallism  means  the  use  of  two  metals  as  standard  money  and 
as  full  legal  tender,  the  purpose  being  to  determine  the  coinage  value  in 
such  a  way  that  both  will  circulate  on  a  parity.    Monometallists  claim  that 
only  one  metal  can  be  a  standard,  and  that  the  metals  cannot  be  so  coined 
that  the  market  value  of  a  gold  dollar  and  a  silver  dollar  will  remain  the 
same. 

2  That  is,  a  tax  on  incomes  so  arranged  that  the  greater  a  man's  in 
come  the  greater  the  tax  in  proportion  to  the  income.       For  example,  a  man 
with  an  income  of  $4,000  might  have  to  pay  $40,  while  a  man  with  $8,000 
income  might  have  to  pay  $120. 


TWELVE  YEARS  OF  PARTY  DISCUSSION          505 

question  and  the  demand  of  the  manufacturers  for  protection, 
still  the  pushing  for  office  and  the  problem  of  securing  honest 
politics,  still  the  silver  and  the  money  question;  perplexing 
foreign  troubles  too  added  their  burden. 

Cleveland  had  scarcely  more  than  taken  up  the  reins  of 
office  when  a  commercial  panic  like  the  disasters  of  1837  and 

1873  swept  over  the  country.  For  some  time 
™9e3panic  of  there  had  been  a  great  decline  in  trade,  and  men 

who  wished  to  borrow  money  for  business  pur 
poses  found  it  difficult  to  do  so,  even  on  the  best  security.  The 
foreign  capitalists  who  held  bonds  or  stocks  in  American  enter 
prises  sought  repeatedly  to  dispose  of  them,  in  consequence  of 
which  there  was  great  depression  in  all  industry.  An  immense 
amount  of  gold  left  the  country;  the  year  ending  June  30,  over 
one  hundred  and  eight  million  dollars  were  exported.  As  a  re 
sult  of  the  depression  and  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  money,  and 
because  the  basis  of  all  credit, — namely,  men's  confidence  in  the 
ability  of  others  to  pay — was  rudely  shaken,  failures  of  mer 
cantile  houses  occurred  in  great  numbers.  There  were  doubt 
less  many  causes  for  the  trouble,  among  which  was  the  fact 
that  for  some  time  previously  there  had  been  in  many  places 
an  unwholesome  excitement  and  zeal  in  business  ventures, 
resulting  in  what  is  commonly  known  as  over-production. 
Towns  of  the  western  and  central  states  were  "boomed"  in 
a  way  that  recalls  to  mind  the  infatuation  of  1835-36. 

One  reason  for  the  panic  was  the  fact  that  business  men  in 
this  country  and  foreigners  owning  American  securities  feared 

that  the  United  States  would  adopt  a  silver  stand- 

93.     ard   SO    that   debts   WOuld  be  Paid   in   a   dollar   the 

bullion  value  of  which  was  much  less  than  the 
value  of  a  gold  dollar,  by  which  at  that  time  all  debts  and  com 
modities  were  measured.  President  Cleveland  called  an  extra 
session  of  Congress  for  August,  declaring  in  his  proclamation 
that  "the  present  perilous  condition  of  the  country"  was  largely 
the  result  of  unwise  financial  legislation.  When  Congress  met, 
the  President  sent  in  a  message  recommending  the  repeal  of 
those  provisions  of  the  Sherman  Act  which  authorized  the 


506  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Government  to  purchase  silver.  A  bill  for  this  purpose  was 
quickly  passed  by  the  House,  but  the  Senate  did  not  pass 
the  measure  till  the  end  of  October.  This  repeal  seems  to 
have  had  little  effect  in  restoring  confidence  or  bringing  back 

better  times.  The  depression  in  industry  con- 
cortinues.n  tinued  to  exist.  Before  winter  set  in  it  was  es 

timated  that  eighty  thousand  people  in  New 
York,  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  people  in  Chicago, 
and  sixty  thousand  people  in  Philadelphia  were  out  of  em 
ployment,  and  many  of  them  were  suffering  from  want.  From 
such  widespread  disorder  and  loss,  the  country  could  not  re 
cover  in  a  few  months'  time.  Nearly  four  years  went  by  be 
fore  business  reached  its  old  stage  of  prosperity,  and  the  old 
buoyant  confidence  returned.  In  the  meantime  the  parties  had 
to  meet  the  silver  question  frankly  and  not  dally  with  it.  That 
became  the  central  issue  of  the  campaign  of  1896. 

During  this  summer  of  1893  and  times  of  panic  and  business 
depression  a  world's  fair  was  held  at  Chicago  to  celebrate  the 

four  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  discovery  of 
The  world'  America.1  Of  all  the  international  exhibitions  as 

yet  attempted  this  was  by  far  the  greatest.  The 
chief  buildings,  designed  by  competent  architects,  were  beauti 
ful  examples  of  chaste  and  noble  architecture,  which  must  have 
left  an  indelible  impression  on  the  minds  of  all  who  beheld 
them.  The  grounds  upon  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan  were 
charming  and  attractive.  The  nations  of  the  world  vied  with 
one  another  in  sending  costly  and  artistic  exhibits.  The  at 
tendance  was  very  large,  especially  during  the  last  two  months 
of  the  Exposition.  That  such  an  exhibition,  with  its  magnifi 
cent  buildings  and  its  great  display  of  wealth  and  culture, 
could  be  held  in  a  city  where  but  seventy  years  before  only 
a  little  army  post  and  a  straggling  frontier  village  existed,  was 
a  striking  proof  of  the  astonishing  development  of  the  great 
West  and  of  American  thrift  and  progress. 


celebration  would  naturally  have  occurred  in  1892,  but  it  was 
found  impossible  to  make  the  necessary  preparations. 


TWELVE  YEARS  OF  PARTY  DISCUSSION  507 

For  a  number  of  years  England  and  the  United  States  had 
been  at  variance  over  the  subject  of  the  seal  fisheries  in  Behring 
Sea.     We  have  already  mentioned  Elaine's  un- 
fisneries!  successful  efforts  to  settle  the  matter,  as  he  be 

lieved  it  ought  to  be  settled.  To  protect  the  seals 
from  total  extinction  some  regulations  and  restrictions  were 
imperatively  necessary.  To  quiet  dispute  in  a  friendly  and 
sensible  way,  and  also  to  determine  some  method  of  preserving 
the  seals  from  complete  destruction,  it  was  agreed  that  the 
whole  matter  should  be  referred  to  a  court  of  arbitration.  The 
court  met  in  Paris  in  the  spring  of  1893.  It  was  composed 
of  two  members  from  the  United  States  and  two 
tribunal"8  from  Great  Britain,  one  from  France,  one  from 
Italy,  and  one  from  Sweden  and  Norway.  Our 
Government  made  two  main  contentions:  (i)  That  the  United 
States  had  jurisdiction  and  dominion  in  the  Behring  Sea;  (2) 
that  the  seals  making  their  homes  end  rearing  their  young  on 
the  islands  of  this  sea  were  our  property,  even  though  they 
might  temporarily  migrate  far  out  into  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The 
court  gave  a  decision  adverse  to  the  United  States,  but  issued 
regulations  for  the  protection  and  reasonable  preservation  of 
the  seals — regulations  which,  it  was  hoped,  would  be  sufficient 
for  the  purpose. 

The  President  was  anxious  that,  in  conformity  with  Demo 
cratic  pledges,  his  party,  now  in  control  of  both  houses  of  Con 
gress,  should  pass  a  new  measure,  embodying  his 
ideas  of  a  low  tariff.  The  Wilson  Bill  was  passed 
through  the  House,  providing  for  lower  duties;  but  it  was 
mangled  almost  out  of  recognition  in  the  Senate,  where  high 
protective  clauses  were  introduced,  much  to  the  discourage 
ment  of  the  President  and  his  supporters.  Cleveland,  con 
sidering  the  mutilated  bill  a  sorry  exhibition,  a  mark  of  "party 
perfidy",  refused  to  sign  it,  and  it  became  a  law  without  his 
signature.1 

1  See  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  8,  §  2.  This  failure  of  parties  to  carry 
out  their  pledges,  the  weakness  of  legislators  under  pressure  of  particular 
interests  is  a  discouraging  thing.  If  it  prevails  the  party  system  largely 


508  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

It  was  expected  that  the  revenue  from  duties  on  imports 

would  be  materially  cut  down  by  this  act,  and  to  provide  the 

requisite  revenue,  a  tax  on  incomes  of  over  four 

The  income  tax.     ,  •  •    «    •  ••H 

thousand  dollars  was  provided  for.  The  consti 
tutionality  of  this  portion  of  the  law  was  later  called  in  ques 
tion  before  the  Supreme  Court.  By  a  vote  of  five  to  four,  the 
Court  held  that  the  income  tax  was,  taken  as  a  whole,  a  direct 
tax,  and  it  was  declared  inoperative  and  void  because  not  ap 
portioned  among  the  states  as  the  Constitution  directs.1 

In  the  meantime,  in  the  midst  of  high  party  dispute  about 
tarn?,  money  and  hard  times,  arose  serious  questions  in  rela 
tions  with  foreign  nations.     There  arose  trouble 
The  beginning     about  Cuba,  an  old  trouble  in  some  ways,  for  we 

of  the  Cuban        .      _   .      ,  .  .      _    J . '       . 

question.  n&O-  had  many  sharp  passages  with  Spain  about 

the  island  in  days  gone  by.  A  rebellion  in  Cuba 
against  the  power  of  Spain  awakened  much  sympathy  in  Amer 
ica,  and  it  became  necessary  for  the  President  to  issue 
a  proclamation  warning  all  citizens  against  the  violation 
of  the  neutrality  laws.  As  we  shall  see  this  did  not  end  the 
difficulty. 


breaks  down.  There  are  always  chances  for  differences  of  opinion;  but  if 
party  men,  when  chosen  to  office,  fail  to  live  up  to  promises,  and  the  pre 
tensions  on  which  and  for  which  they  were  elected,  what  is  to  happen 
to  popular  government?  In  connection  with  this  bill,  ugly  charges  of  un 
fair  influence  and  even  bribery  were  made,  charges  which  appear  to  have 
had  some  foundation,  but  whether  they  were  true  or  not,  what  are  we 
going  to  do,  if  we  can  not  rely  on  the  principles  and  pledges  of  parties  and 
party  leaders? 

"We  know",  said  Mr.  Wilson,  whose  name  was  given  to  the  tariff  bill 
because  it  was  reported  by  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee  of  the  House 
of  which  he  was  chairman,  "we  know  that  not  all  who  march  bravely  in 
the  parade  are  found  in  the  line  when  the  musketry  begins  to  rattle.  Re 
form  is  beautiful  upon  the  mountain  top  or  in  the  clouds,  but  ofttimes 
very  unwelcome  as  it  approaches  our  own  thresholds". 

1See  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  2,  §  3.  A  direct  tax  had  to  be  distrib 
uted  among  the  states  "according  to  their  respective  numbers".  The 
constitutional  question  was  whether  a  tax  on  incomes  from  whatever 
source  derived  was  a  direct  tax.  The  court  held  that  the  tax  was  in  so 
many  cases  direct,  that  the  whole  act  was  rendered  void. 


TWELVE  YEARS  OF  PARTY  DISCUSSION          509 

At  the  end  of  1895  more  disquieting  events  occurred.  Vene 
zuela  and  Great  Britain  had  long  been  contending  concerning 
the  proper  boundary  between  the  former  state 
and  British  Guiana.  The  United  States  desired 
to  bring  about  a  settlement  of  the  dispute  by 
arbitration.  Great  Britain  refused  to  submit  the  matter  to 
arbitration,  and  questioned  the  right  of  the  United  States  to 
interfere.  Mr.  Olney,  the  Secretary  of  State,  was  very  de 
termined,  insisting  that  this  Government  had  a  right  to  inter 
pose,  and  that  such  interposition  was  in  line  with  the  principle  of 
the  Monroe  doctrine  and  in  accordance  with  traditional  Amer 
ican  policy.  December  iyth  the  President  sent  a  message  to 
Congress,  with  the  correspondence  that  had  passed  between 
the  governments.  The  message  declared  that  inasmuch  as 
Great  Britain  refused  to  submit  to  impartial  arbitration,  in  the 
absence  of  other  means  of  discovering  the  true  lines  in  the  dis 
puted  territory  the  United  States  should  investigate  the  matter 
and  come  to  its  own  decision.  He  advised,  therefore,  an  appro 
priation  for  a^  commission  to  make  such  investigation  and  to 
report  its  findings.  "When  such  report  is  made  and  accepted", 
the  President  declared,  "it  will,  in  my  opinion,  be  the  duty  of 
the  United  States  to  resist  by  every  means  in  its  power,  as  a 
willful  aggression  upon  its  rights  and  interests,  the  appro 
priation  by  Great  Britain  of  any  lands  or  the  exercise  of  govern 
mental  jurisdiction  over  any  territory,  which  after  investiga 
tion  we  have  determined  of  right  belong  to  Venezuela".  Con 
gress  immediately  appropriated  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
for  a  commission  (December  18-20,  1895),  and  the  President 
appointed  its  members.  The  country  was  startled  by  these 
proceedings,  for  no  one  had  been  aware  that  our  relations  with 
Great  Britain  were  at  all  critical.  There  was  considerable 
difference  of  opinion  among  the  people  as  to  the  wisdom  of  Mr. 
Olney 's  dispatches  and  the  President's  message,  and  there 
was  everywhere  great  interest  and  considerable,  but  not  alarm 
ing,  excitement. 

While  the  commission  was  engaged  in  investigating  the 
claims  of  England  and  Venezuela,  the  English  and  American 


510  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

governments  continued  to  discuss  the  question  in  dispute  by 
correspondence.  England  finally  consented  to  leave  the  mat 
ter  to  an  international  tribunal,  two  members  of 
agreed  u°pon.  which  should  be  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  To  this  Venezuela  agreed.  Thus 
war  was  avoided,  and  the  difficulty  determined  in  accordance 
with  the  precepts  of  civilization  and  not  the  instincts  and  pas 
sions  of  barbarism.  The  President  and  the  English  ministry 
also  agreed  upon  a  treaty  establishing  a  general  court  of  arbi 
tration,  but  this  treaty  the  Senate  rejected. 

As  the  election  of  1896  approached,  it  was  plain  that  the 
silver  question  could  no  longer  be  hidden  or  avoided;  the  re- 
saver  Pea^  °^  ^e  Sherman  Act  had  stopped  the  purchase 
of  bullion  by  the  Government,  and  far  and  near 
there  was  a  demand  for  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  the 
white  metal: — let  anyone  with  a  few  ounces  of  silver  take  them 
to  the  mint  and  have  them  coined  into  good,  sound  dollars.  A 
fall  in  the  price  of  commodities  was  charged  to  be  due  to  a  lack 
of  sufficient  money,  to  the  fact  that  gold  was  not  enough  to 
meet  the  demands  of  trade.  Why  shut  out  silver,  a  great 
American  product,  from  the  mints?  And  back  of  all  these 
charges  and  questions  was  the  serious  assertion  that  the  "money 
power  "  was  holding  the  life  of  the  common  people  in  its  steely  grip. 
After  the  panic  of  1893  the  Federal  Government  found  it 
difficult  to  keep  a  sufficient  amount  of  gold  in  the  Treasury 
...  to  assure  the  redemption  of  notes  and  United 

Issue  of  bonds. 

States  securities  m  that  metal.  The  President  and 
his  Cabinet  believed  that,  if  the  gold  should  get  so  low  that 
silver  was  used  for  such  purposes,  there  would  at  once  be  great 
financial  distress,  and  that  our  credit  at  home  and  abroad 
would  be  ruined.  To  secure  gold  the  Government  resorted 
to  the  sale  of  bonds,  and  in  this  way  increased  the  national  debt 
by  over  two  hundred  and  fifty  million  dollars.  This  sale  of 
bonds  was  very  much  condemned  by  many  persons  and  as 
strongly  defended  by  others.1 

1  Some  men  spoke  of  this  whole  bond  issue  act  with  deepest  bitterness. 
Cleveland  was  charged  with  surrendering  the  Government  to  the  money 


TWELVE  YEARS  OF  PARTY  DISCUSSION 


511 


The  Republican  party  nominated  William  McKinley,  of 
Ohio,  and  Garret  A.  Hobart,  of  New  Jersey.  They  declared 
in  their  platform:  "We  are  opposed  to  the.  free 
coinage  of  silver  except  by  international  agree 
ment  with  the  leading  commercial  nations  of  the 
world,  which  we  pledge  ourselves  to  promote,  and  until  such 
agreement  can  be  obtained  the  existing  gold  standard  must 


The  election, 
1896. 


.  Y 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1896 

be  observed".    The  Democratic  Convention  was  a  dramatic  as 
sembly,  full  of  fire,  of  struggle,  and  of  intense  earnestness. 
Many    of    the   members,   especially   the    eastern 

The  Democrats.  J  ,  .        ., 

men,  believed  in  gold  coinage  and  not  in  silver;  the 
convention  was  divided  between  the  conservatives  on  the  one 
hand  and,  on  the  other,  those  totally  out  of  patience  with  the 
existing  conditions,  which  appeared  to  them  all  in  favor  of  the 


sharks,  and  the  result  of  this  and  other  things  was  to  divide  the  Demo 
cratic  party;  some  of  the  members  defended  the  act  and  the  whole  course 
of  the  administration  as  wise,  honest  and  just;  other  elements,  resenting 
Cleveland's  hostility  to  free  coinage  of  silver,  and  insisting  that  selling 
bonds  to  Wall  Street  was  a  heinous  offence,  became  implacable  enemies. 


512  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

creditor  class,  the  men  who  held  the  mortgages  and  owned  the 
bonds.  Mr.  William  Jennings  Bryan,  a  young  man  from 
Nebraska,  able,  active  and  strong,  an  eloquent  speaker,  won 
the  nomination  of  his  party  by  an  impassioned  and  powerful 
speech  against  the  gold  men.  "You  shall  not",  he  exclaimed, 
"press  down  upon  the  brow  of  labor  this  crown  of  thorns!  You 
shall  not  crucify  mankind  upon  a  cross  of  gold!"  The  People's 
other  rties  Party  also  chose  Mr.  Bryan  as  their  candidate  for 
the  presidency,  but  nominated  Thomas  E.  Watson 
of  Georgia  for  Vice-President.  Mr.  Bryan  was  likewise  nomi 
nated  by  a  party  calling  itself  the  Silver  party.  A  large  number 
of  Democrats  were  entirely  out  of  sympathy  with  the  platform 
adopted  by  their  party,  and  held  another  convention,  which 
nominated  John  M.  Palmer,  of  Illinois,  and  Simon  B.  Buckner, 
of  Kentucky,  and  declared  in  favor  of  the  gold  standard.  The 
election  resulted  in  the  choice  of  McKinley  and  Hobart,  and 
though  the  silver  question  came  up  again  in  1900,  the  issue 
was  never  again  as  sharply  drawn,  and  the  permanence  of  the 
gold  standard  was  assured. 

Few  campaigns  in  our  history  have  been  so  interesting  or 
so  well  worth  the  time  and  energy  given  to  them.     No  elec 
tion  since  the  Civil  War  has  stirred  the  people  so 
A  campaign  of      deeply.1    Notwithstanding  the  excitement,  it  was 

education  and  F/       .  ,     ,.  .  ,  A, 

thought.  a  campaign  of  discussion  and  argument  rather 

than  abuse;  it  was  a  campaign  of  education.  Cam 
paigns  of  that  kind  go  far  to  justify  the  whole  principle  of  pop 
ular  government.  Men  are  called  on  to  think.  Someone  has 
wisely  said  that  in  human  affairs,  if  society  is  to  go  on  im- 

1The  Republicans  said  that  the  free  coinage  of  silver  meant  the  in 
troduction  of  the  fifty-cent  dollar.  The  attack  was  answered  in  a  campaign 
song: 

"You  may  say  what  you  will  of  the  fifty-cent  dollar, 
But  I  tell  you  it  beats  none  at  all,  all  holler!" 

But  there  was  not  much  of  this  sort  of  thing — the  use  of  doggerel  to 
convince  the  thoughtless;  pamphlets  were  printed  and  circulated  by  the 
million;  speeches  were  made  everywhere;  and  men  had  to  talk  the  best 
they  could,  because  people  wanted  to  know  the  truth. 


TWELVE  YEARS  OF  PARTY  DISCUSSION          513 

proving,  thought  is  the  important  thing; — it  is  not  of  much 
consequence  that  men  often  make  mistakes,  it  is  of  consequence 
that  they  think  at  all,  instead  of  placidly  letting  a  few  men  do 
the  thinking  for  them. 

REFERENCES 

WILSON,  Division  and  Reunion,  Chapter  XIII;  DEWEY,  National 
Problems,  Chapters  IV,  V,  VII-XI,  XIII-XX;  HAWORTH,  Re 
construction  and  the  Union,  pp.  120-174. 


34 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


WAR  WITH  SPAIN—  IMPERIALISM  AND  THE  WHITE 
MAN'S  BURDEN—  1897-1909 

When  McKinley1  came  to  the  presidential  chair  (1897), 
there  was  a  widespread  feeling  that  now  we  were  to  have  quiet; 
the  silver  question  was  laid  away;  business  was  entering  with 
leaps  and  bounds  upon  a  new  era  of  prosperity.  The  years 
proved  to  be  momentous  ones  in 
American  history;  before  the  end 
of  the  century  the  old  continental 
United  States  had  taken  on  new 
duties  and  cares;  a  new  era  had 
begun. 

The  first  thing  that  was  done 
by  McKinley's  administration  was 

to  provide    for  more 

revenue     and     more 

protection.  Two  days 
after  his  inauguration  the  Presi 
dent  summoned  Congress  to  meet 
in  extra  session.  In  his  first  mes 
sage  he  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  for  some  years  past  the  ex- 
penditures  of  the  Government  had 
exceeded  the  receipts,  and  said  that  there  was  an  evident  neces 
sity  for  the  prompt  passage  of  a  tariff  bill  which  would  provide 
ample  revenue.  Congress  soon  passed  an  act  known  as  the 
Dingley  tariff  bill,  which  very  materially  increased  the  duties. 

1  William  McKinley  was  born  in  Ohio,  was  a  soldier  in  the  war,  leaving 
the  army  with  rank  of  major;  was  a  representative  in  Congress  from  1877 
to  1891,  and  was  afterwards  governor  of  Ohio. 

514 


The  Dingley 
tariff. 


V 


IMPERIALISM  AND  THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN    515 

The  insurrection  in  Cuba,  which  had  caused  trouble  in  the 
United  States  and  anxiety  to  the  previous  Administration,  was 
still  in  progress,  and  was  daily  producing  more  and 
more  restlessness  and  uneasiness  among  the  people 
of  America.  Many  persons  felt,  naturally,  a  sympathy  with  a 
people  who  were  fighting  for  their  independence  from  a  nation 
whose  colonial  policy  had  consisted,  from  the  beginning,  in 
extorting  as  much  as  possible  from  the  colony  for  the  sake  of 
the  mother  country,  with  little  regard  for  the  needs  or  the 
rights  of  the  colonists.  Moreover,  the  people  of  the  United 
States  were  shocked  by  the  methods  used  in  the  suppression 
of  the  rebellion,  which  were  cruel  in  the  extreme,  entailing  un 
told  misery  not  so  much  upon  the  soldiers  in  arms  as  on  the 
women,  children,  and  other  non-combatants.  A  large  portion 
of  the  whole  island  was  laid  waste,  its  commerce  destroyed, 
while  tens  of  thousands  of  its  citizens  died  of  want  and  starva 
tion.  American  residents  in  Cuba  were  at  times  ill  treated, 
and  our  Government  forced  to  call  upon  Spain  for  indemnity. 
We  were  obliged  to  police  our  shores  to  prevent  "filibustering 
expeditions"  carrying  arms,  ammunition,  and  reinforcements 
to  the  rebels.  American  commerce  with  the  island  was  in 
large  measure  broken  up,  and,  though  we  had  legally  no  right 
to  complain  of  this  inevitable  result  of  the  rebellion,  the  pa 
tience  of  our  people  was  so  sorely  tried  that  it  became 
evident  that  before  long  our  Government  would  be  com 
pelled  by  Spain's  own  cruelty  to  demand  a  cessation  of  hos 
tilities.  In  Cleveland's  administration  an  effort  had  been 
made  to  induce  Spain  to  grant  Cuba  self-government,  if 
not  independence;  but  Spain  would  have  none  of  it,  and, 
redoubling  her  energies  to  crush  the  rebellion,  continued 
with  greater  zeal  upon  her  appalling  work  of  desolation  and 
destruction.  Renewed  overtures  from  our  Government, 
after  Mr.  McKinley  became  President,  were  met  with  as 
surances  that  local  self-government  would  be  granted  to 
Cuba,  but  it  was  now  too  late.  The  insurgents  were  not 
ready  to  accept  anything  less  than  independence,  and  the  war 
continued. 


516  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

The  situation,  already  full  of  trouble,  was  aggravated  by 
an  event  which  stirred  the  American  people  as  few  events  in 
our  history  have  done.     The  battleship  Maine, 
while  lying  in  the  harbor  of  Havana,  was  de 
stroyed  by  an  explosion  and  sunk,  carrying  down 
over  two  hundred  and  fifty  sailors  and  officers.    After  a  careful 
examination,   a   court  of   naval   officers  reached   the   conclu 
sion  that  the  ship  was  "destroyed  by  the  explosion 
ilps"*1    I5>      °f  a  submarine  mine,  which  caused  the  explosion 
of  two  or  more  of  her  forward  magazines".1    After 
the  rendering  of  the  report  it  was  apparent  that  war  was  im 
minent.    One  is  loath  to  believe  that  the  Spanish  Government 
was  itself  guilty  of  such  an  atrocious  outrage;  but  some  of  the 
Spanish  officers  perhaps  were,  and  if  they  were  not,  the  disaster 
was  an  impressive  proof  of   conditions   in   Cuba    that   were 
intolerable.2 

Some  further  negotiations  were  carried  on  between   the 

two  governments,  and  though  Spain  now  made  concessions  and 

.   .  promises,   they  produced  little  impression  upon 

the  United  States,  which  was  weary  of  making 

remonstrances  and  peaceful  representations  and  of  waiting  for 

the  fulfillment  of  promises.    The  President  sent  a  message  to 

Congress,  April  nth,  giving  a  history  of  the  Cuban  difficulty 

for  the  preceding  three  years,  and  asking  Congress 

President's  ,  .       /,,      ,    ,  .    ,. 

message.  to  empower  him    to  take  measures  to  secure  a  full 

and  final  termination  of  hostilities  between  the 
Government  of  Spain  and  the  people  of  Cuba,  and  to  secure 
in  the  island  the  establishment  of  a  stable  government  capable 
of  maintaining  order  and  observing  its  international  obliga 
tions,  insuring  peace  and  tranquillity  and  the  security  of  its 
citizens,  as  well  as  our  own,  and  to  use  the  military  and  naval 
forces  of  the  United  States  as  may  be  necessary  for  these 
purposes." 


1  In  1 91 1,  the  Maine  was  raised,  and  a  re-examination  apparently  con 
firmed  the  earlier  conclusion. 

8  See  President  McKinley's  message,  April  n,  1898. 


IMPERIALISM  AND  THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN    517 


War, 
April,  1898. 


ATLANTIC 
O   C  E  A  JfT 


On  the  i  Qth,  Congress  passed  a  series  of  resolutions  de 
claring  that  the  people  of  Cuba  "are  and  of  right  ought  to  be 
Iree  and  independent",  demanding  that  Spain 
withdraw  her  troops  and  relinquish  her  authority, 
empowering  the  President  to  use  the  army  and 
navy  and  to  call  forth  the  militia  to  enforce  the  resolutions, 
and  disclaiming  any  disposition  or  intention  to  annex  or  ex' 
ercise  control  over  the  island. 

Prompt  steps  were  taken  to  carry  these  resolutions  into 
effect.  An  ultimatum  was  drawn  up  announcing  that  Spain 
must  before  noon  of  the  23d  of  April  give  a  satis 
factory  answer  to  our  demands  or  the  President 
would  use  force  to  compel  acquiescence.  The 
Spanish  minister  at  Washington  immediately  demanded  his 
passports,  and  the  American  minister  at  Madrid  was  given  his 
before  he  could  present 
the  ultimatum.  A  fleet 
was  at  once  sent  from 
Key  West  to  blockade 
Havana,  and  war  was 
thus  begun.  A  few  days 
later  Congress  formally 
declared  that  war  was  in 
progress.  The  first  de 
cisive  action  of  the  war 

cost  Spain  her  eastern  dependencies.  On  the  first  day  of  May, 
Commodore  George  Dewey  sailed  into  Manila  Bay,  in  the  Philip 
pine  Islands,  and  in  a  few  hours  destroyed  the  Spanish  fleet. 
Not  a  life  was  lost  on  the  American  vessels.  Land  troops  under 
General  Merritt  were  soon  sent  to  the  Philippines,  and  the  city 
of  Manila  was  taken  (August  13).  In  the  meantime,  fighting 
had  been  begun  in  Cuba  itself  and  the  adjacent  waters.  A 
Spanish  fleet  under  Admiral  Cervera  left  Spain  soon  after  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  and  for  a  time  its  destination  was  un 
known.  There  was  some  fear  that  the  cities  along  the  Atlantic 
coast  might  be  attacked,  but  uneasiness  on  that  score  proved 
to  be  needless;  for  the  Spaniards  sailed  from  the  Cape  Verde 


FIELD  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  IN  CUBA 


518 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Bashi  Channel 

NORTH  1.0 


Balintang  Channel 


PHILIPPINE 
ISLANDS 

SCALE  OF  MILES 


Islands  to  the  northern  coast  of  South  America,  and  thence, 
after  a  short  delay,  to  Santiago,  a  good  harbor  on  the  southern 
shore  of  Cuba,  where  for  a  time  they  were  safe  from  attack, 
and  where  they  could  do  no  damage  to  the  American  marine. 

There  for  some  weeks 
they  were  blockaded 
by  a  strong  and  well- 
equipped  fleet  under 
Admiral  Sampson. 
The  monotony  of  the 
blockade  was  relieved 
by  a  daring  but  un 
successful  attempt,  by 
Lieutenant  Hobson 
and  a  small  crew,  to 
block  the  harbor  by 
sinking  the  Merrimac, 
an  old  merchant  ship, 
in  the  channel  of  the 
harbor.  Troops  were 
shipped  to  Santiago, 
and  were  landed  in 
the  vicinity  of  the 
city.  They  attacked 
the  defences  of  the 
place,  and  after  some 
hard  and  brilliant 
fighting  took  San 
Juan  Hill  and  El  Caney.  As  there  was  no  longer  hope  of 
retaining  the  city,  Admiral  Cervera  determined  upon  making 
a  desperate  attempt  to  escape  with  his  ships,  which  were 
no  match  for  the  blockading  squadron.  On  the  morning  of 
July  3d,  the  Spaniards  sailed  out  of  the  harbor,  but  the  effort  at 
flight  was  fruitless,  and  the  whole  fleet  was  destroyed.  The  city 
soon  afterward  surrendered  to  General  Shafter.  After  this  there 
was  little  serious  fighting.  An  American  army  landed  in  Porto 
,  and  took  possession  of  the  island  without  much  opposition. 


IMPERIALISM  AND  THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN    519 

On  the  i2th  of  August  preliminary  terms  of  peace  were 
agreed  upon  at  Washington,  the  French  minister  acting  in 
behalf  of  Spain.  By  the  terms  of  this  arrange- 
August  1898  merit  Spain  promised  to  surrender  all  claim  to 
Cuba,  and  to  cede  to  the  United  States  Porto 
Rico  and  all  other  Spanish  islands  in  the  West  Indies,  as  well 
as  an  island  in  the  Ladrones.  It  was  also  agreed  that  the 
United  States  should  hold  the  city  and  harbor  of  Manila  pend 
ing  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty  which  should  determine  the  final 
disposition  of  the  Philippine  Islands.  Commissioners  ap 
pointed  by  both  nations  met  at  Paris  and  concluded  a  definitive 
treaty,  in  which  Spain  gave  assent  to  all  the  express  stipula 
tions  and  promises  of  the  preliminary  agreement,  and  also 
gave  up  to  the  United  States  all  sovereignty  over  the  Philip 
pine  Islands.  February  6,  1899,  the  treaty  was  ratified  by 
the  American  Senate.1 

It  seems  strange  indeed  that  at  the  end  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  United  States  and  Spain  should  be  at  war — a  war 
growing  out  of  Spain's  colonial  policy,  and  caused 
iKlh  and       ™  lar?e  measure  ty  the  method  of  colonial  admin- 
coionies.  istration   that   marked   the   beginnings   and   fol 

lowed  the  course  of  her  history  in  the  New  World. 
The  defeat  of  the  Spanish  armada,  says  a  recent  writer,  with 
truth,  was  the  opening  event  in  the  history  of  the  United  States. 
The  beginning  of  English  colonization  in  America  was  made 
with  the  hope  that  it  would  check  the  growth  of  Spain  and 
undermine  her  strength.  Who  could  have  foreseen  the  long 
rivalry  with  Spain  and  the  ultimate  success  of  English  and 
American  institutions?  Three  centuries  and  a  quarter  ago  an 
unknown  Englishman,  supposed,  however,  to  be  the  intrepid 
Humphrey  Gilbert,  implored  the  Queen  of  England  to  give 
him  authority  to  attack  the  Spanish  shipping 
and  the  colonial  establishments  of  the  West  Indies. 
"I  will  do  it  if  you  allow  me ",  he  said;  "only  you  must  resolve 
and  not  delay — the  wings  of  man's  life  are  plumed  with  the 
feathers  of  death  ".  Time  has  proved  that  great  national  move- 
1  Twenty  million  dollars  was  given  Spain  for  the  Philippines. 


520  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

ments  are  not  for  a  moment,  and  are  not  dependent  on  the 
resolutions  or  delays  of  a  queen  or  a  passing  generation. 

During  the  progress  of  the  war  the  annexation  of  the  Hawai 
ian  Islands  was  finally  consummated.  A  joint  resolution  was 
Annexation  of  Passe^  through  Congress  providing  for  the  ac- 
the  Hawaiian  quisition  of  the  islands  and  for  their  temporary 
islands,  July,  government.  A  group  of  twelve  islands,  with  an 
area  of  6,677  square  miles  and  a  population  of 
about  100,000  persons,  one-half  of  them  native  islanders,  was 
thus  made  American  territory. 

Probably  we  cannot  yet  see  with  any  fullness  the  mean 
ing  of  this  war  and  of  the  acquisition  of  lands  beyond  the 
sea;  but  plainly  these  facts  meant  much.  The 
the'war?110  United  States,  by  the  acquisition  of  dependencies, 
"insular  possessions",  took  upon  itself  new  tasks. 
Its  progress  hitherto  had  been  by  a  gradual  western  expansion, 
by  reaching  out  for  territory  that  lay  at  its  very  door;  it 
had  built  itself  up  by  the  establishment  of  new  settlements 
on  its  own  territory,  on  land  uninhabited  by  civilized  men.1 
Could  the  country,  which  had  shown  much  marked  capacity  for 
subduing  a  continent  and  extending  free  government,  manage 
wisely  and  successfully  colonial  establishments  in  distant 
parts  of  the  globe?  Such  was  the  serious  question  with  which 
men  found  themselves  confronted;  to  that  question  only  time 
can  give  answer. 

There  was  considerable  opposition  to  annexation  of  the 

Philippines;    and  after  annexation   there  was  much  opposi- 

,   tion  to  the  retention  of  the  islands.    Some  persons 

Imperialism. 

protested  against  the  policy  of  "imperialism", 
the  policy  of  holding  a  land  and  its  people  in  a  dependent 
condition,  without  the  privileges  and  full  rights  of  citizenship 
and  without  the  hope  of  speedy  entrance  into  the  Union;  they 
argued  that  such  action  meant  a  surrender  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  republic.  In  reply,  it  was  said  that  our  evi- 

1  Alaska  is,  of  course,  an  exception,  for  it  was  not  contiguous  territory; 
it  was,  however,  sparsely  inhabited,  and  its  administration  caused  no 
particular  difficulties. 


IMPERIALISM  AND  THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN    $21 


dent  duty  was  to  take  the  islands  from  Spain  and  give  them 
good  government;  that  the  duty  was  not  to  be  avoided  by  mere 
declarations  of  theory,  or  by  any  announcement  of  political 
maxims;  that  it  was  our  business  to  assume  the  obligations 
that  had  come  to  us, — to  assume  the  "  white  man's  burden  " 
in  the  islands  of  the 
far  Pacific,  and  to 
care  for  outposts  in 
the  Orient  like  those 
of  other  nations.  The 
work  was  boldly  be 
gun  and,  whatever 
mistakes  may  have 
been  made  since  that 
day,  an  earnest  effort 
has  been  directed 
toward  giving  the 
people  of  the  Philip 
pines  honest  govern 
ment,  good  schools, 
and  a  new  chance  in 
the  world.  Whether 
America  will  succeed 
in  maintaining  a  pol 
icy  based  on  unselfish 
service,  must  depend 
on  the  generous  spirit 

of  our  people  and  on     THAT  THE  STAR  OF  THE  CUBAN  REPUBLIC  MAY 
the  demand  they     RISE  ON  THE  PALACE,  HAVANA,  MAY  20, 1912 

make  for  upright  officials  to  represent  them. 

Certain   tasks   demanding   immediate   attention  were  left 
in  the  train  of  the  war.    Some  of  these  were  quickly  attended  to. 
A  civil  government  was  established  in  Porto  Rico 
by  act  of  Congress  (April,  1900).    In  the  Philip 
pines,  the  natives,  under  the  leadership  of  Aguin- 
aldo,  broke  out  in  rebellion  against  their  new  rulers.    This  up 
rising  was  put  down,  but  not  without  difficulty  (1901).    A  new 


Copyright,  by  Underwood  &  Underwood 

OLD  GLORY  BEING  LOWERED  IN  HONOR, 


Work  in  the 
Colonies. 


522  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

civil  commission,  provided  for  by  Congress,  took  charge  of  the 
islands.  Meantime,  .much  was  done  to  restore  order  in  Cuba, 
and  after  the  Cubans  themselves  had  successfully  founded  a 
government  the  military  forces  of  the  United  States  were  with 
drawn.  Of  the  greatest  importance  was  the  work  of  the  Amer 
ican  officials  in  the  new  tropical,  or  semi-tropical,  countries 
in  improving  sanitary  conditions.  Yellow  fever  was  practically 
banished  from  Cuba,  and  in  the  Philippines  a  diligent  and 
not  unsuccessful  struggle  was  made  against  cholera  and  the 
plague.1 

In  tracing  these  events,  we  have  passed  over  the  election 
of  1900.  The  Republicans  nominated  William  McKinley 
and  Theodore  Roosevelt;  the  Democrats,  Will- 
iam  J-  BlTan  and  Adlai  E.  Stevenson.  The  plat 
forms  of  the  two  leading  parties  contained  no 
statement  of  new  issues,  save  that  the  Democratic  platform 
declared  against  the  acquisition  of  dependencies  and  the  forma 
tion  of  a  large  standing  army — the  policy  of  the  party  was 
"anti-imperialistic".  The  Republicans  were  again  successful, 
their  candidates  receiving  292  electoral  votes  out  of  the  total 
of  447. 

President,  McKinley 's  new  administration  had  only  well 
begun  when  he  was  assassinated  by  an  anarchist  at  Buffalo, 
N.  Y. ;  he  was  shot  September  6,  and  died  on  the 

X4th>  I001'    No  word  is  needed  here  to  tel1  of  the 
sorrow  of  the  people  over  this  unspeakable  crime. 

1  The  discovery  by  Major  Reed,  a  medical  officer  of  the  army,  and  others, 
that  the  germ  of  yellow  fever  is  carried  by  a  mosquito,  and  that  in  this 
manner  the  disease  is  communicated  from  a  person  sick  with  the  fever  to  a 
well  person,  is  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  beneficent  discoveries  of  modern 
science.  If  proper  precautions  are  taken,  it  is  now  possible  to  secure  prac 
tical  immunity  from  the  dreaded  disease  which  has  been  the  scourge  of 
Cuba  and  other  tropical  countries,  and  has  more  than  once  wrought  great 
havoc  in  the  United  States.  The  immunity  from  yellow  fever  and  malaria 
during  the  building  of  the  Panama  Canal  is  due  to  the  fight  against  the 
mosquito.  If  these  brave  men  who  experimented  in  Cuba  had  not  dis 
covered  the  deadly  character  of  the  pestiferous  mosquito,  the  little  animal 
could  have  made  the  work  in  Panama  a  deadly  undertaking  if  not  im 
possible. 


IMPERIALISM  AND  THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN    523 

President  McKinley  had  a  personal  charm  of  manner,  and  a 
noble  temperament  which  won  for  him  the  affection  as  well  as 
the  respect  even  of  those  who  were  strongly  opposed  to  him  on 
party  issues. 

Theodore  Roosevelt  at  once  assumed  the  duties  of  the 
presidency,  announcing  his  intention  to  follow  the  plans  and 

policies  of  his  predeces- 
Roosedv°er?t.  *or.  The  new  president 

was  a  man  who,  though 
comparatively  young  for  such  a  high 
position,  had  seen  varied  public  ser 
vice.  He  had  taken  an  active  part 
in  the  political  work  of  the  city  and 
State  of  New  York,  had  been  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Federal  Civil  Service  Com 
mission,  had  acted  as  Assistant  Sec 
retary  of  the  Navy,  and  had  served 

as    an    officer    in    the    Spanish  War. 

TT    T,  j     i      j-  4.-       -  -i.  j  I,-       ir  • 
He  had  also  distinguished  himself  in 

literature,  achieving  a  well-earned  reputation  as  a  writer  of 
history  and  biography.1 

We  may  well  end  this  chapter  on  expansion  and  imperialism 
with  a  word  oil  the  Panama  Canal.     The  subject  is  a  com 
plicated  one,  for  back  of  the  situation  as  it  was  in 

The  Panama  -i  •          <«    -t «    i  • 

Canal.  iQoo,  were  a  long  series  of  diplomatic  arguments 

with  Great  Britain,  and  a  long  list  of  troubles 
with  the  South  American  countries.  President  Roosevelt, 
not  accustomed  to  shrink  from  responsibility  and  toil,  entered 
joyfully  into  the  task  of  settlement.  The  war  with  Spain 
had  shown  the  value  of  the  canal,  for  war  purposes,  if  for  no 
other,  while  our  new  duties  in  the  Pacific  added  to  the  need  of 


1  His  most  noted  work  is  The  Winning  of  the  West,  a  brilliant  history 
of  the  deeds  of  the  frontiersmen  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  the  Old 
Northwest.  His  Gouverneur  Morris,  Thomas  Benton,  and  The  Naval  War 
of  1812  are  also  good  and  interesting  books.  Every  boy  should  know 
his  Hunting  Trips  of  a  Ranchman  and  his  Hunting  the  Grizzly.  Though 
well  known  by  his  brother  historians  as  a  successful  writer,  perhaps  his 


524 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


easy  water  communication  between  the  eastern  and  western 
seaboards.  In  1901,  a  treaty  with  England,  taking  the  place 
of  one  made  in  1850,  provided  that  the  United  States  might 


THE  PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE 

own  and  defend  the  canal  route  and  provide  for  its  neutrality. 
Two  years  later  the  United  States  made  arrangements  for  the 
purchase  of  the  property  and  the  rights  of  the  old  French  canal 


best-known  words  to-day  are  those  advocating  the  "strenuous  life",  the 
life  of  effort,  of  struggle,  of  ambition,  of  progress,  the  life  which  shuns 
inglorious  and  selfish  ease:  "Let  us,  therefore,  boldly  face  the  life  of  strife, 
resolute  to  do  our  duty  well  and  manfully;  resolute  to  uphold  righteous 
ness  by  deed  and  by  word;  resolute  to  be  both  honest  and  brave,  to  serve 
high  ideals  yet  to  use  practical  methods". 


IMPERIALISM  AND  THE  WHITE  MAN'S  BURDEN    525 

company  which  had  already  done  some  of  the  Mrork  and  had 
indeed  at  one  time  made  quite  a  display  of  vigor. 

With  Colombia,  however,  through  whose  territory  the  canal 
was  to  be  built,  unexpected  and  provoking  trouble  arose;  the 
little  South  American  country  wanted  all  she  could  get,  and 


Copyright,  by  Underwood  &  Under  woo  A 

THE  CULEBRA  CUT  ON  THE  PANAMA  CANAL 

apparently  more,  though  nothing  but  benefit  to  her  could  arise 
from  building  the  canal.  When  her  minister  at  Washington 
made  a  treaty  providing,  on  what  seemed  liberal  terms  for  her, 
that  the  American  government  could  build  the  canal  and  manage 
it,  her  government  refused  to  ratify  the  treaty.  Immediately 
Panama,  then  a  part  of  Colombia,  revolted,  and  we  did  not 
stop  to  parley  or  ask  questions,  but  immediately  recognized 
Panama,  made  a  treaty  with  her  and  secured  the  title  to  a 
strip  of  land  through  her  territory.  Within  a  short  time  a 
commission  was  appointed  and  the  work  begun.  It  proved  to 
be  an  arduous  and  immense  undertaking.  As  we  write  these 


526  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

lines,  the  work  is  not  completed.  $400,000,000  or  thereabouts 
have  been  expended  or  will  be  before  the  work  is  over,  and 
the  whole  task  has  been  carried  on  with  wonderful  skill  and 
with  admirable  energy.  The  engineers  in  charge  have  been 
army  officers  and  great  credit  is  due  them  for  the  admirable 
manner  in  which  the  work  has  been  carried  forward. 

Thus  when  the  twentieth  century  began,  the  sun  looked 
down  on  a  new  United  States,  quite  different  from  the  row  of 

little  commonwealths  that  made  up  the  Repub- 
United  States  ^c  a^  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  American  continent  no  longer  held  the  whole 
of  American  territory;  even  in  the  far  Pacific  were  American 
lands;  if  the  acquisition  of  California  and  Oregon  meant 
that  we  must  be  both  an  Atlantic  and  a  Pacific  power, 
the  annexation  of  the  Philippines  and  Hawaii  made  that  fact 
more  evident  and  gave  it  new  force  and  significance. 

REFERENCES 

WILSON,  Division  and  Reunion,  Chapter  XIV;  SPARKS,  National 
Development,  Chapter  XIII;  DEWEY,  National  Problems,  Chapter  VII 
(both  on  the  previous  history  of  the  Isthmian  Canal);  LATANE, 
America  as  a  World  Power,  Chapters  I-IX,  XII;  HAWORTH,  Re~ 
construction  and  the  Union,  pp.  175-194. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE  TASKS  OF  THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY— 

1900-1913 

The  early  years  of  the  twentieth  century  were  taken  up 
with  discussions  and  with  actions  brought  on  by  new  condi 
tions.      First,    there   were   foreign   complications 
The  early  years  arisincr  Out  of  our  new  position  in  the  world;  for 

of  the  new  cen-  .  .        .  .         . 

tury<  we  were  no  longer  unconcerned  with  what  went 

on  in  the  Far  East;  and  that  fact  brought  us  into 
new  relations  with  the  powers  of  Europe  which  had  their  Eastern 
ambitions  and  duties.  Second,  there  were  the  new  duties  of 
colonial  administration.  Third,  there  were  the  duties  forced 
upon  government  and  society  by  the  immense  growth  of  in 
dustry  and  by  the  great  internal  development  of  the  country, 
of  which  we  have  already  spoken. 

There  was  at  no  time  serious  danger  of  war  with  foreign 
nations;  but  there  were  fine  and  delicate  adjustments  to  be 
reached  for  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  the 
making  of  good  understanding.  John  Hay,  the 
Secretary  of  State,  whom  President  McKinley  appointed,  and 
who  continued  till  his  untimely  death  to  serve  under  President 
Roosevelt,  was  a  great  man  and  a  wise  one.  Under  him  there 
was  no  rough  bluster  or  bravado;  with  frank  firmness,  with 
clear  insight  and  with  a  sense  of  sound  justice,  he  went  his  way, 
scorning  any  attempt  at  sharp  practice.  If  diplomacy  is  ever, 
what  it  was  often  said  to  be  in  times  gone  by, — a  game  of 
chance  in  which  you  try  to  get  ahead  of  your  opponent  by 
superior  cunning — it  was  not  so  under  John  Hay.  The  world 
was  almost  startled  by  the  directness,  simplicity  and  fairness 
of  his  methods  and  his  proposals.  Mr.  Hay  died  in  1905;  and 
after  his  death  his  general  policy  was  pursued  by  our  Govern 
ment. 

527 


528  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

First  among  general  foreign  affairs,  we  may  consider  the 
Monroe    Doctrine,    the    developed    Monroe    Doctrine.      The 

Western  Hemisphere  we  held  to  be  our  sphere 

°f  mn<uence  and  we  did  not  care  for  meddling. 

This  position  had  its  difficulties  in  the  light  of  the 
fact,  that  we  now  claimed  that  we  had  something  to  say  about 
Oriental  affairs;  for  if  the  Western  Hemisphere  was  our  place, 
why  should  we  not  confine  our  attention  to  that  and  leave  the 
Orient  and  Europe  alone?  We  were  prepared  to  leave  Europe 
alone,  but  our  foreign  office  asserted  that  although  we  were  a 
Western  power,  we  had  interests  in  the  East,  too;  and  though 
the  doctrine  remained  only  a  doctrine,  we  persisted  in  holding 
it.  With  the  South  American  States  efforts  were  made  to 
reach  a  basis  of  a  more  friendly  understanding  than  had  al 
ways  existed  in  the  past.  l 

The  general  policy  of  the  time  was  to  take  an  active  part  in 
world  politics,  while  not  intruding  upon  European  affairs,  and 

to  cultivate  peace  with  all  nations,  while  strength- 

WorJd  politics.  .  e 

ening  the  navy  and  preparing  to  defend  our 
rights  with  force  if  necessary.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  sometimes 
charged  with  flourishing  the  "big  stick",  and  many  persons 
thoroughly  disagreed  with  the  theory  that  peace  was  best 
secured  by  a  display  of  a  big  navy  and  by  a  readiness  to  fight. 
But  certainly  during  these  years  the  men  in  authority  can  not 
be  charged  with  seeking  war;  on  the  contrary  while  America 
took  a  new  and  influential  place  in  the  world,  principles  of 
peace  and  arbitration  rather  than  brute  war  were  clearly 
presented. 


As  days  "v^nt  by,  our  new  duties  and  our  new  place  of 

power  in  the  Pacific  became  plainer.     There  was  China,  big, 

unwieldy,  undergoing  rapid  change,  but  still  of- 

The  Orient.  r     •  •  •  i_  •« 

fenng,    in   her   weakness   and   against   her   will, 
chances  for  European  nations  to  make  something  out  of  her, 

1  Much  was  done  by  Elihu  Root,  the  successor  of  Hay,  as  Secretary 
of  State.  He  even  visited  personally  some  of  the  Latin-American  States, 
and  made  a  deep  impression  by  his  strong,  simple  assurances  of  good  will. 


THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY— 1900-1913      529 

to  seize  parcels  of  territory,  or  to  get  special  privileges  in  her 
harbors.  America  had  no  desire  to  see  the  old  empire  divided 
up  into  bits,  each  controlled  by  one  of  the  European  powers; 
we  desired  nothing  for  ourselves  but  our  legitimate  influence 
and  a  chance  for  trade.  The  "Open  Door  in  China"  was  our 
policy, — a  fair  field  and  no  favors  in  all  trade  relations, — and 
American  desires  and  policy  could  not  be  quietly  ignored  by 
Europe. 

The  war  between  Japan  and  Russia  was  brought  to  a 
close  by  the  Treaty  of  Portsmouth  (1905)  through  the  "good 

offices "  of  Mr.  Roosevelt.    The  result  of  the  war 

disclosed  the  fact  that  Japan  was  powerful  and 
ambitious,  a  power  always  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the  settle 
ment  of  Pacific  questions.  Hardly  was  her  war  with  Russia 
over  before  our  relations  with  her  became  strained,  though  it  is 
hard  to  say  why  they  were  or  to  point  out  any  real  cause  for  a 
feeling  of  distrust  and  uneasiness.  The  troubles,  such  as  they 
were,  were  fortunately  soon  allayed.  While  affairs  with  Japan 
were  still  cloudy  and  uncertain,  a  great  American  battle  fleet 
was  sent  around  the  world.  Its  appearance  in  the  Pacific  was 
taken  as  a  sign  that  we  were  prepared  to  fight  if  necessary, — 
probably  a  needless  sign;  but  when  the  American  tars  were 
cordially  welcomed  by  the  Japanese  people  and  were  given  the 
"time  of  their  lives",  there  was  no  more  talk  of  war.  The 
"demonstration"  of  the  fleet  in  the  Pacific  became  a  spectacle, 
its  visit  to  foreign  parts  a  display,  the  trip  an  evidence  of  the 
general  effectiveness  of  the  navy. 

Our  relations  with  England  were  extremely  cordial;   never 
before  since  the  days  of  the  Revolution  were  there  such  signs 

of  good  understanding,  or  such  firm  belief  that 
arbitration5"1  tne  two  English  speaking  nations  must  not  fight 

or  quarrel  over  differing  opinions  or  conflicting 
interests.1  An  old  trouble  over  the  Alaskan  boundary  was 
settled  by  arbitration. 

1  Preparations  are  being  made  for  a  great  celebration  of » the  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  to  celebrate  the  passing  of  a  century 
without  war, — something  better  to  shout  over  than  fights  and  bloodshed. 
35 


530  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

The  tasks  of  the  Philippines  were  carried  on  vigorously 
and  with  righteousness.  The  claims  of  the  friars  to  large  areas 
in  the  islands  were  purchased  by  the  government, 
and  CubaPPm<  *  anc^  ^us  an  °^  source  of  trouble  was  quietly  dis 
posed  of.  A  representative  government  was  given 
to  the  Philippine  people;  school  teachers  were  sent  to  the 
islands  to  carry  out  the  great  work  of  education;  and  in  many 
ways  there  were  proofs  that  we  did  not  mean  to  "exploit" 
the  new  territory  or  simply  make  the  most  out  of  it  for  our 
selves.  Cuba,  too,  was  on  more  than  one  occasion  saved  from 
disorder  and  revolution;  effort  was  made  to  steady  the  feet  of 
the  young  republic  as  she  trod  the  hard  road  of  self-government. 

The  passing  years  of  the  early  century  brought  efforts  to 
avoid  the  loss  and  horrors  of  war,  and  to  escape  if  possible  the 
burdens  of  an  "armed  peace",  the  maintaining  of 

Sreat  armies  and  battle  fleets-  In  1898  an  im 
portant  step  had  been  taken  in  the  calling  of 
The  Hague  Conference  for  the  discussion  of  peace.  The  con 
ference,  called  by  the  Czar  of  Russia,  met  in  1899.  In  1907 
a  second  conference  met.  A  court  of  arbitration  was  established 
at  The  Hague  at  the  first  conference. 

After  a  time  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  agreed  to 
submit  to  the  tribunal  all  differences  which  they  could  not 
settle  by  ordinary  diplomatic  methods,  provided  these  differ 
ences  did  not  "affect  vital  interests,  the  independence,  or  the 
honor  of  the  two  contracting  states".  Agreements  similar 
to  this  were  made  between  the  United  States  and  France  and 
with  several  other  states.  Differences  between  England  and 
America  concerning  the  Newfoundland  fisheries,  differences 
which  had  for  many  decades  troubled  the  two  nations,  were 
submitted  to  the  tribunal  at  The  Hague,  and  authoritatively 
decided  (1910).  President  Taft,  in  March,  1910,  publicly  de 
clared  that  he  saw  no  reason  for  not  submitting  all  questions 
to  arbitration.1  This  question  was  taken  up  later  (1911)  for 

1  "  Personally  I  do  not  see  any  more  reason  why  matters  of  national 
honor  should  not  be  referred  to  a  court  of  arbitration  than  matters  of 
property  or  of  national  proprietorship.  ...  I  do  not  see  why  ques- 


THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY— 1900-1913       531 


i°9f08 


consideration  and  treaties  providing  for  general  arbitration 
were  entered  into  with  England  and  France;  but  now  (1913) 
have  not  been  finally  adopted.  The  unofficial  peace 
societies  of  the  world  are  said  now  to  number  nearly  six 
hundred. 

The  elections  of  1904  and  1908  showed  on  the  whole  con 
tentment  with  the  Republican  administration.    In  the  former 

year,  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  chosen  president. 

^v  a  very  large  electoral  majority,  over  Alton  B. 

Parker,  his  Democratic  opponent.  The  issue  of 
the  campaign  which  attracted  most  attention  was  the  charge 
that  the  Republican  National  Com 
mittee,  using  information  obtained  by 
the  newly  established  Government  Bu 
reau  of  Corporations,  extracted  immense 
funds  from  the  big  corporations,  who 
expected  favors  from  the  government  in 
return.  This  claim,  in  an  open  letter, 
Roosevelt  declared  to  be  "atrociously 
false".1  In  1908,  Wm.  H.  Taft,  who 
had  been  Roosevelt's  Secretary  of  War, 
was  chosen  president  over  Mr.  Bryan, 
who  for  the  third  time  was  put  up  by 
the  Democrats.  Mr.  Taft  announced 
his  intention  to  follow  the  course  of 
his  predecessor  and  to  carry  out  his 

policies.  But  trouble  met  him  at  the  outset,  and  before  the 
end  of  his  term  his  own  party  was  rent  with  dissension-  of 
this  we  shall  see  something  later  on. 

During    the    Roosevelt    administration,    public    sentiment 
was  roused  as  never  before  to  the  evils  of  corruption  in  office 


tions  of  honor  may  not  be  submitted  to  a  tribunal  composed  of  men  of 
honor,  who  understand  questions  of  national  honor,  to  abide  by  their 
decision,  as  any  other  questions  of  difference  arising  between  nations  ". 

1  It  is  absolutely  impossible  for  us  in  a  few  words  to  tell  the  exact  truth 
about  the  funds  given  to  either  party  in  their  campaigns;  it  is  almost  im 
possible  to  find  out  the  facts.  There  is  no  doubt  that  for  decades  large 


532  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

and  the  dangers  from  business  interests  which  sought  to  con 
trol  government  or  disregard  the  law.1  The  President  relent 
lessly  pursued  the  "grafters"  who  sought  to  cheat 
"grafters1"*  tne  government  and  such  officials  as  sought 
to .  make  use  of  their  positions  unwisely  but 
too  well,  for  private  gain  in  disregard  of  public  duty.  He 
preached  the  "square  deal",  declaring  with  emphasis  that 
we  must  proceed  "  by  evolution  and  not  by  revolution ". 
"We  do  not  wish  to  destroy  corporations;  but  we  do  wish  to 
make  them  subserve  the  public  good  ".  "All  individuals,  rich 
or  poor,  private  or  corporate,  must  be  subject  to  the  law  of 
the  land.  .  ."!  Steps  were  taken  to  enforce  the  Sherman  Anti 
trust  Law  of  1890,  which  had  been  gently  resting  on  the  statute 
book.  Suits  were  now  begun  in  the  courts  to  dissolve  some  of 
the  combinations  which  were  most  openly  and  plainly  organ 
ized  in  defiance  of  the  law.2  Mr.  Taft  carried  forward  this 
policy  of  attempting  to  restrain  or  dissolve  the  trusts;  but  the 
enforcement  of  the  law  met  with  serious  difficulty.  Before 
the  end  of  Mr.  Taft's  term  some  people  were  seriously  question 
ing  the  policy  of  trying  by  law  to  prevent  combinations;  would 
it  not  be  wiser,  said  they,  to  regulate  business  and  put  it  under 
strict  governmental  supervision,  than  attempt  to  prevent  the 
growth  of  big  corporations  and  the  absorption  of  the  little  ones 
into  a  single  big  one? 

sums  had  been  given.    The  important  thing  is  that  the  practice  was  now 
looked  upon  as  bad. 

The  awakening  of  public  conscience  to  the  vice  of  any  such  system  is 
the  important  thing.  That  persons  desiring  government  favors  have,  on 
more  than  one  occasion,  furnished  funds  for  party  contest  is  undeniable. 
Mr.  Parker's  charge  and  Mr.  Roosevelt's  denial  in  1904  helped  to  clear  the 
air.  Here  plainly  enough  is  a  great  danger.  Government  must  be  kept 
clean  by  our  keeping  parties  and  party  government  clean. 

1  It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  intimate  that  all  business  or  all  "big  busi 
ness"  is  corrupt;  such  is  far  from  the  fact.    But  the  old  practice  of  contribu 
ting  funds  to  parties  was  bad.    The  insurance  investigations  in  1905  in  New 
York  showed  that  some  corporations  commonly  gave  money  to  one  or  both 
parties  merely  for  influence  and  effect. 

2  In  1907  suits  were  begun  against  the  American  Tobacco  Company 
and  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  and  they  were  finally,  in  Mr.  Taft's  term, 
dissolved. 


THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY— 1900-1913    533 

The  tariff  did  not  play  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  discussions 
of  the  times  before  1908;  but  in  that  year  there  was  evident 
uneasiness  and  a  strong  demand  for  a  lowering  of 
rates  and  a  new  adjustment.  The  Republican 
platform  spoke  in  favor  of  tariff  revision  and  this 
was  commonly  believed  to  be  "revision  downward".  The 
Congress  of  1909,  soon  after  Mr.  Taft's  inauguration,  took 
the  matter  up  and  finally  passed  the  Payne-Aldrich  Tariff 
law.  It  was  bitterly  attacked;  and  as  vehemently  defended. 
Its  opponents  declared  that  rates  were  insufficiently  reduced, 
if  reduced  at  all;  its  friends  asserted  that  it  was  a  substantial 
fulfillment  of  party  pledges  and  was  a  real  revision.  Whatever 
may  be  said — and  much  was  said — these  features  are  note 
worthy:  (i)  Native  products  of  the  Philippines  were,  by  the 
law,  to  come  in  free  of  duty, — an  act  of  justice  to  the  islanders; 
(2)  the  principle  of  maximum  and  minimum  rates  was  adopted, 
in  accordance  with  which,  in  addition  to  the  minimum  duty 
necessary  to  real  protection,  there  should  be  still  higher  duties 
on  goods  from  foreign  countries  maintaining  a  tariff  which 
discriminated  against  the  United  States;  (3)  a  Tariff  Board, 
to  make  a  "scientific  examination"  of  conditions  and  report  to 
the  President,  was  established.  President  Taft  hailed  this  last 
provision  as  the  beginning  of  real  scientific,  non-partisan  study 
of  the  tariff  question,  a  means  of  getting  the  whole  thing  out  of 
politics.  Congress  also  provided  for  a  tax  on  corporations. 
Moreover,  to  settle  the  direct  tax  question1  an  amendment 
was  passed  by  Congress  and  submitted  to  the  States  for  adop 
tion.  The  purpose  of  the  amendment  is  to  give 
Amendment.  Congress  power  to  levy  direct  taxes  without  the 
necessity  of  dividing  the  burden  among  the  states 
on  the  basis  of  population  as  the  constitution  required.  The 
growth  of  the  country,  the  disappearance  of  state  jealousies, 
the  need  of  new  and  modern  methods  of  taxation,  all  em- 


.  ^he  division  of  the  Supreme  Court  on  the  income  tax  matter  had 
aroused  much  unfavorable  criticism.  See  the  Constitution,  art.  i,  sec.  2, 
§  3,  and  sec.  9,  §  4. 


534  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

phasized  the  need  of  the  amendment.1  This  amendment  after 
full  discussion  was  passed  by  the  requisite  number  of  states,  three- 
fourths  of  the  whole  (1913),  and  became  part  of  the  Constitution. 
President  Taft  took  up  another  problem  of  great  magni 
tude, — our  trade  relations  with  Canada.  The  great  dominion, 

lying  at  our  very  door,  and  peopling  rapidly 
1911?"  through  all  its  wide  western  domain,  was  cut  off 

by  our  tariff  and  by  hers  from  free  exchange.  The 
question  arose,  Was  such  a  condition  sound?  Was  it  the 
best  condition  for  both  nations,  or  should  freer  intercourse 
be  encouraged  by  lower  rates  made  possible  by  mutual  con 
cessions?  President  Taft,  strongly  believing  in  the  advan 
tages  to  both  nations,  sought  to  reach  an  arrangement  with 
Canada,  providing  for  lower  tariff  rates  by  both  the  United 
States  and  the  Dominion,  and  a  reciprocity  agreement  was 
finally  entered  into.  It  went  for  naught,  however.  The  meas 
ure  passed  Congress;  but  the  Canadian  Parliament  was  un 
willing  to  accept  it.  So  for  the  time,  at  least,  the  old  tariff  wall 
stood. 

We  have  seen  that  the  railroad  problem  was  taken  up  in 
1887,  when  the  Interstate  Commerce  Act  was  passed.  The 

Commission  worked  valiantly  to  get  results,  but 

Interstate  .  ,  \          °          ..          /     . 

Commerce  not  always  with  success.  As  the  railroads  m- 
Acts,  1901,  creased  their  mileage,  as  business  everywhere 
1906,1910.  developed,  the  need  of  further  regulation  was 
evident.  Charges  of  rebates,  of  discriminations  and  of  unjust 
rates,  filled  the  air;  and,  though  conditions  were  not  so  bad  as 
they  had  been  before  the  Act  of  1887  was  passed,  they  were  bad 

1  If  wealth  is,  as  it  should  be,  the  basis  of  taxation,  there  is  no  sense 
in  distributing  the  burden  among  states  in  proportion  to  their  population. 
The  Constitution  as  formed  contained  this  provision,  probably  because 
there  were  jealousies  between  the  states,  and,  in  the  Convention  of  1787, 
taxation  was  tangled  up  with  the  question  of  representation.  If  the  tariff 
is  to  be  reduced,  Congress  must  be  allowed  to  get  money  in  other  ways,  and 
the  internal  revenue  taxes  on  tobacco,  etc.,  do  not  appear  to  be  enough. 
The  tariff  problem  is  sufficiently  difficult  without  its  being  complicated  by 
restrictions  on  the  power  of  Congress  to  get  money  by  other  means  than 
customs  duties. 


THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY— 1900-1913    535 


Postal  savings 
banks. 


enough.  Acts  were  now  passed  (1901,  1906,  1910)  extending 
the  power  of  the  Commission,  and  further  controlling  the  roads. 
The  Commission  was  given-  power,  not  only  to  prevent  dis 
crimination  as  at  first,  but  to  compel  the  reduction  of  unjust 
?ates,  by  fixing  a  maximum  rate.1 

Another  important  step  was  the 
establishment  of  the  postal  savings 
banks  (1910).  This 
act  provided  that  cer 
tain  selected  post  offices 
should  receive  money  for  deposit 
and  pay  two  per  cent  interest  on 
the  sums  deposited.  This  plan 
gives  people,  who  have  no  con 
venient  banking  facilities,  or  who 
have  only  small  sums  to  deposit, 
an  absolutely  safe  place  of  deposit, 
and  encourages  saving  and  thrift. 

So  far  in  this  chapter  we  have 
been  talking  of  parties,  and  of 
political  and  diplo 
matic  tasks.  Party 
differences  and  the 
problems  of  legislation  were,  how 
ever,  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  result  of 
social  change  and  of  industrial 
growth; — they  came  from  the  fact 
that  new  social  needs  were  arising 
and  that  the  immense  development 
of  the  country,  both  in  wealth  and 
in  population,  had  changed  our 
methods  of  life;  we  were  demanding  new  points  of  view  and 
new  activities  on  the  part  of  the  government.  These  con- 

1  The  basis  of  the  justice  of  controlling  the  railroad  corporations  may  be 
seen  from  the  following  sentences,  which  are  taken  in  larsre  measure  from 
F.  A.  Fetter's  Principles  of  Economics,  p.  534,  etc. 

(i)  Railroads  enjoy  peculiar  privileges  through  their  charters  which 


Industrial  and 
social  growth. 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood 

A  MODERN  SKYSCRAPER 
PARTIALLY  COMPLETED 


536  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

ditions  were  not  altogether  new;  we  have  seen  that  the  great 
growth  of  the  country  in  the  thirty  years  or  so  after  the  Civil 
War  brought  problems  in  its  train.  But  the  growth  went 
on  without  ceasing.  Each  passing  year,  the  population  was 
larger,  the  wealth  was  greater,  the  factories  were  more  numer 
ous  or  bigger.  And  yet,  though  men  looked  and  wondered, 
it  took  time  to  realize  what  change  the  passing  days  were 
working,  just  as  it  took  time  in  days  gone  by  to  realize  the 
character  and  the  difficulty  of  the  slavery  problem.  The 
twentieth  century  was  begun  before  men  were  fully  alive  to 
the  new  situation  and  the  new  tasks  of  adjustment. 

A  glance  at  the  situation  reveals  the  following  main  facts: 

1.  The  first  and  most  notable  fact  is  the  growth — one 
might  almost  say  the  appalling  growth — of  population.    The 

census  of   1010  showed  that  within  the  United 

The  main  facts. 

States  proper  there  were  91,971,266  people. 

2.  Moreover,  soon  after  the  century  began,  men  realized 
that  the  West  was  gone;    there  was  no  longer  a  great  area 
open  to  the  western  settler  and  offering  opportunity  to  anyone 
who  would  till  the  wide  acres.     Territories  had  become  states, 
and  the  great  free  land  of  the  West  had  largely  been  taken  up. 

3.  The  railroads  had  reached  out  over  the  country  and 
had  gone  on  extending  until  by  1910  they  had  over  236,000 
miles  of  track.    They  had  thus  brought  all  parts  of  the  country 
together  and  made  the  settler  on  the  western  farm  near  neigh 
bor  to  the  city  men  of  the  East.    In  1908  twice  as  many  pas- 

they  obtain  from  the  Government.  (2)  They  have  in  many  cases  ob 
tained  large  grants  of  land  from  the  federal  and  state  governments.  (3) 
The  power  of  the  railroad  officials  enables  them  to  do  things  of  an  im 
portant  public  character.  (4)  The  old  notion  that  the  railroad  was,  like  any 
other  piece  of  private  property,  subject  only  to  the  will  of  its  owners,  is 
a  notion  unsuited  to  the  position,  power,  and  character  of  the  railroad  in 
dustry.  (5)  The  progress  of  consolidation  places  in  few  hands  great  finan 
cial  power  and  tremendous  influence. 

It  is  now  generally  conceded  that,  though  the  government  does  not  own 
the  roads,  regulation  and  control  are  necessary  and  are  fully  within  the 
power  of  the  government;  but  this  right  of  the  government  to  act,  es 
pecially  in  the  matter  of  the  amount  of  rates,  was  only  gradually  set  up 
and  maintained. 


538  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

sengers  were  carried  one  mile  as  were  carried  in  1890,  and  Li 
the  same  time  the  amount  of  freight  carried  actually  trebled, 
or  nearly  so.1 

4.  With  the  growth  of  railroads  came  the  concentration 
of  business;    this  concentration  was  increased  by  the  inven 
tion  of  machinery  which  changed  methods  of  work  and  made 
competition  in  many  lines  impossible.    Village  industries  were 
supplanted;    our  clothes  are  no  longer  made  by  the  village 
tailor  or  our  shoes  by  the  village  cobbler;    our  medicines  are 
not  compounded  by  the  village  druggist;  our  flour  is  ground 
in  Minneapolis;   our  beef  is  slaughtered  in  Chicago  or  Kansas 
City.    Industry  is  not  only  immense,  it  is  concentrated.    Amer 
ica  has  become  one  of  the  great  manufacturing  countries  of  the 
world;  the  value  of  the  product  equals  that  of  both  Great 
Britain  and  France.    In  the  decade  after  1897  more  coal  was 
mined  than  in  all  the  previous  history  of  America.2 

5.  As  the  population  increased,  great  cities  grew  up,  the 
homes  of  new  industries  and  points  of  distribution  for  products. 
Immigrants  crowded  into  the  cities,'  many  of  them  ignorant 
of  the  simplest  facts  and  conditions  of  the  new  world  or  of  what 
we  have  been  wont  to  consider  normal  American  life.3 

So  all  these  conditions  presented  problems,  many  of  which 
were  discussed  in  political  meetings,  in  gatherings  at  the  country 
store,  or  by  the  fireside  in  the  home.  Even  to  those  who  saw 
this  remarkable  growth  it  was  not  always  quite  plain  why 
conditions  were  what  they  were;  but  all  felt  that  they  were 
passing  or  had  passed  into  a  new  era,  and  they  felt  the  pres- 


1  In  1860  there  were  30,626  miles  of  railroad  in  the  United  States;   in 
1890  there  were  163,597;  in  1909  there  were  216,868. 

2  In  1860,  the  wealth  of  the  United  States  was  sixteen  billion  dollars; 
in  1890,  sixty-four  billion;    in  1910,  one  hundred  and  seven  billion. 

8  In  1880,  14,772,000  people  lived  in  cities  (and  most  of  them  were  not 
very  large)  and  35,385,000  lived  in  the  country  (that  is  actually  in  the 
country  or  in  places  of  less  than  2,500  inhabitants).  In  1910  42,623,000 
people  lived  in  cities  (some  of  the  cities  were  very  large)  and  49,348,000 
lived  in  the  country  and  in  towns.  In  1880  29.5%  of  the  population 
was  city  population  and  70.5%  was  country  population.  In  1910  46.3%  was 
city  population  and  52.7%  was  country  population. 


THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY— 1900-1913    539 

sure  of  a  new  social  order  and  the  weight  of  new  burdens.  Let 
us  now  consider  what  was  done  to  meet  some  of  these  new 
conditions. 

The  disappearance  of  the  West,  the  realization  that  the 
country's  resources  were  not  really  limitless,  awakened  in- 
Conservation  terest  'm  conservation  of  the  national  resources. 
The  old  idea  was  that  the  land  was  boundless,  the 
resources  unlimited;  all  men  had  to  do  was  to  conquer  nature 
and  overcome  the  wilderness;  but  facts  were  beginning  to 
open  people's  eyes  to  the  need  of  saving,  for  the  next  genera 
tion  would  wish  to  use  iron  and  lumber  and  would  need  land 
for  grazing  cattle. 

The  land  was  largely  taken  up,  but  there  were  forests  that 
must  be  preserved;  water  courses  that  must  be  protected;  water- 
power  sites  that  needed  to  be  saved;  mineral  deposits  that 
ought  to  be  guarded  as  part  of  the  national  heritage.  Conser 
vation  included  two  ideas:  first,  the  precaution  against  waste 
and  extravagance  in  the  use  of  national  resources;  second, 
saving  the  undeveloped  mines  and  water  courses  for  the  people 
at  large  and  not  allowing  them  to  be  turned  over  for  a  song  to 
corporations  or  individuals  who  would  themselves  reap  the 
lion's  share  of  the  benefits.  Conservation  means,  according 
to  Mr.  Roosevelt,  utilizing  the  natural  resources  of  the  nation 
in  a  way  that  will  be  of  most  benefit  to  the  nation  as  a  whole. 

Because  the  need  of  protecting  and  using  the  water  courses 
was  beginning  to  attract  attention,  President  Roosevelt,  in 
March,  1907,  appointed  an  Inland  Waterways  Commission. 
Out  of  this  movement  came  a  great  meeting  at  the  White  House 
(May,  1908),  made  up  of  State  governors,  federal  congressmen, 
other  officials,  and  invited  guests.  "Never  before  in  the  his 
tory  of  the  nation  had  so  representative  an  audience  gathered 
together".  In  presenting  the  purpose  of  this  assembly  Presi 
dent  Roosevelt  aptly  said:  "We  are  prosperous  now;  we 
should  not  forget  that  it  will  be  just  as  important  to  our  de 
scendants  to  be  prosperous  in  their  time  ".  The  result  of  the 
conference  was  new  and  widespread  interest  in  conservation, 
a  movement  of  the  highest  importance  in  the  life  of  the  nation. 


540 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


f 


A  conservation  commission  was  appointed,  and  other  con 
ferences  were  held.  In  Roosevelt's  administration  and  that 
of  his  successor,  Mr.  Taft,  large  portions  of  the  public  land 
were  withdrawn  from  public  entry;  for  the  time  being,  at 
least,  they  were  not  to  be  sold.  The  lands  included  water- 
power  sites,  mineral  lands,  and  important  forests. 

Early  in  Mr.  Roosevelt's  first  term  the  task  of  reclaiming 
desert  lands  by  irrigation  was  begun.  In  1902  the  Reclamation 
Act  was  passed  by  Congress,  providing  that  the 
proceeds  from  the  sale  of  the  public  lands  in  the 
arid  or  semi-arid  regions  should  be  used  to  build 
irrigation  plants.  Great  dams  and  reservoirs  were  built.  In 
side  of  ten  years  twenty-six  projects  were  approved  by  the 

Secretary  of  the  Inte 
rior.  Work  began  on 
nearly  all  of  them  and 
was  carried  rapidly 
forward.  The  great 
Shoshone  dam  in  Wy 
oming  is  the  highest 
dam  in  the  world,  be 
ing  328  feet  from  the 
lowest  foundation  to 


the  top.  Water  in 
the  reservoir  will  irri 
gate  over  150,000 
acres.  It  is  estimated 
that  altogether,  in 
cluding  the  lands  irri 
gated  by  both  private 
companies  and  by  the 
State  and  national 
governments,  there  are 
some  13,000,000  acres 
under  irrigation,  and 

that  there  is  water  available  for  five  times  as  many  acres  in 

addition. 


Copyright  by  Underwood  &  Underwood 

A  MODERN  HARVESTING  MACHINE 


THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY— 1900-1913    541 

The  opening  up  of  the  new  West,  the  development  of  machin 
ery,  and  the  increase  in  population  was  accompanied  with  in 
creasing  production  of  agricultural  products.  The 
imagination  can  scarcely  grasp  the  facts,  and 
figures  simply  daze  the  mind.  In  1860,  there  were 
some  25,000,000  cattle  on  the  farms  and  ranches  of  the  whole 
country;  in  1910,  there  were  69,000,000;  the  value  in  1910  was 
ever  $5,000,000,000.  Immense  cornfields  stretching  over  the 
prairie  lands  of  the  middle  west  produced  fabulous  crops.  The 
country  produced  in  1912  over  3,000,000,000  bushels  of  corn. 
It  we  should  place  the  corn  in  bushel  baskets  in  a  line,  each 
basket  occupying  two  feet,  the  line  would  circle  the  earth 
forty-five  times  at  the  equator! 

The  development  of  the  railroad  system,  and  the  invention 
of  machinery  caused  the  concentration  of  population  and  the 
building  up  of  big  corporations  with  large  capital 
an(*  immense  power.  We  have  already  seen  how 
the  fact  brought  up  problems  to  be  met  and  solved 
if  possible  by  legislation.  We  are  all  now  interested  in  what 
the  great  industrial  companies  of  the  land  are  doing,  for  no 
portion  of  the  United  States  is  so  remote,  no  one  leads  such  a 
separate  life,  that  the  factory  to  him  is  unimportant.  The 
farmer  of  Dakota  or  the  ranchman  of  Wyoming  is  affected  by 
what  is  done  in  factories  at  Chicago  or  Pittsburg;  no  village 
is  so  isolated  that  it  is  self-dependent.  We  all  live  on  manu 
factured  goods;  it  may  be  almost  said  that  wheat  and  corn  are 
made  rather  than  grown,  for  everything  is  done  by  machinery; 
the  modern  farmer  needs  to  be  a  mechanic  as  well  as  a  farmer; 
corn  is  planted,  cultivated  and  cut  by  machinery,  and  some 
times  stripped  of  its  ears  and  stowed  away  by -machinery. 
Wheat  is  cut  and  threshed  by  machinery;  and  then  whirled 
away  by  railroads,  stowed  in  elevators  by  machinery, — in  fact 
it  seems  as  if  we  do  everything  by  machinery  but  eat  and  sleep. 
All  this  means  a  general  interest  in  what  is  done  in  the  big 
factories  and  by  the  corporations. 

One  of  the  wonders  of  recent  years  has  been  the  development 
of  the  iron  and  steel  business.     In  1867,  the  United  States 


542  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

produced  19,643  long  tons  of  steel;  in  1909  it  produced  over 

23,000,000  long  tons.     Steel  has  come  to  be  used  for  all  sorts 

of  purposes:     ships   and  railway  cars  are  made 

The  steel  .      .  ,  •  u   i  n 

business.  out    °*    rt;     nuge    towering        skyscrapers      in 

the  larger  cities  have  skeletons  of  bolted  steel; 
we  live  in  an  age  of  steel.  The  tendency  of  modern  industry 
is  shown  by  the  formation  of  the  United  States  Steel  Corpora 
tion,  an  immense  concern,  which  turns  out  an  enormous  product. 
Organized  in  1901  by  the  combination  of  various  companies,  it 
began  its  work  with  a  capital  of  $1,100,000,000.  By  1910  it 
had  paid  over  $726,000,000  in  dividends  to  its  stockholders.1 

The  big  corporations,  especially  if  they  come  near  to  mon 
opolizing  the  business,  that  is  to  say,  practically  controlling 
it,  of  course  arouse  hostility  and  are  a  source  of 
Control  of  cor-    real  concem.    for  what  is  to  prevent  their  being 

porations  and  ,.,..,,..  . 

watered  stock,  absolute  masters  of  the  situation,  holding  in  their 
hands  what  have  become  the  real  necessities  of 
life?  Perhaps  common  sense  and  real  business  interest  would 
always  prevent  totally  unreasonable  charges;  but  in  recent 
years  there  has  come  the  belief,  shared  by  many  men  who  are 
themselves  interested  in  big  business,  that  government  regu 
lations  and  supervision  are  desirable,  for  the  protection  of 
the  public  welfare.  Connected  with  this  question  is  that  of 
overcapitalization,  and  of  " watered  stock";  many  corpora 
tions  have  a  capital  on  paper  far  beyond  the  actual  amount 
of  money  or  property  put  into  them.  Is  it  just  and  fair  that 
they  should  expect  to  pay  interest  to  their  stockholders  on 
the  "water",  on  the  amount  beyond  the  actual  investment? 
Is  the  "water"  property  to  be  respected?  In  some  cases  the 
answer  to  this  question  is  not  so  easy  as  it  may  seem.  But  the 
problem  of  reaching  justice  in  the  control  and  the  taxation  of 
corporations,  and  especially  the  problem  of  limiting  rates  of 
railway,  gas,  water  companies,  and  the  like,  is  made  more 
difficult  by  the  existence  of  watered  stock. 

1The  American  Tobacco  Company  and  the  Standard  Oil  Company 
are  other  examples  of  immense  combinations.  These  were  dissolved  in 
1910-11  by  the  courts,  as  we  have  already  seen. 


THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY— 1900-1913    543 

With  the  development  of  industries,  the  labor  problem 
reached  new  proportions.  In  1902,  a  great  coal  strike  in  the 

hard-coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania  caused  much 
capital?11'  suffering  to  the  miners,  and  in  fact  to  consumers 

also  over  a  large  part  of  the  Union.  Through  the 
personal  participation  of  President  Roosevelt,  who  secured  the 
appointment  of  an  able  board  to  investigate  the  trouble  and  to 
arbitrate  the  differences  between  miners  and  mine-owners, 
the  strike  was  brought  to  an  end,  but  not  until  public  atten 
tion  and  interest  had  been  thoroughly  aroused.  The  question 
was  asked,  Is  coal  mining  only  a  private  business,  if  the  re 
sult  of  a  quarrel  between  miners  and  owners  can  cause  suffering 
and  bring  want  to  millions  of  people?  Or  should  there  be, 
must  there  be,  a  sense  of  public  responsibility  on  the  part  of 
both  elements  in  such  a  controversy,  and  should  the  govern 
ment,  as  representing  all  of  us,  have  something  to  say  about 
it?  After  the  settlement  of  the  coal  strike,  there  were  other 
large  strikes  in  various  industries.  It  appears,  on  the  whole, 
however,  as  if  there  were  a  growing  readiness  on  both  sides  to 
reach  conclusions  by  arbitration.  There  appears  to  be  a  grow 
ing  sense  that  the  public  has  an  interest  and,  though  this  ques 
tion  has  troubled  thoughtful  men  of  America  for  a  generation 
and  is  still  with  us  and  may  be  for  years  to  come,  there  is  hope 
of  an  understanding.  Perhaps  the  problem  of  women  workers 
in  the  great  cities  is  the  most  difficult;  but  the  ending  of  the 
garment-workers'  strikes  in  New  York  and  Chicago  (1910— 
1911)  gave  hope  of  ultimate  triumph  of  right  conditions. 

The  problem  of  the  wage  earner  was  also  discussed  from 
another  point  of  view.  His  welfare  is  the  welfare  of  all.  In 
Welfare  laws  some  States,  legislation  has  recently  been  passed 

limiting  hours  of  labor  in  particular  industries.  The 
working  hours  of  women  have  been  shortened,  and  a  strong 
movement  against  child-labor  has  begun.  That  children  should 
be  shut  up  for  long  hours  in  close  factories,  doing  over  and  over 
again  some  little  thing  whose  very  repetition  seems  to  stunt  the 
body  and  dull  the  mind,  can  hardly  be  allowed  permanently 
in  a  country  which  realizes  that  its  future  is  in  the  hands  of 


544  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

its  children  and  that  no  amount  of  cheap  cotton  or  of  cheap 
shoes  is  compensation  for  stunted  and  benumbed  youth.  Be 
tween  1904-1910  child-labor  laws  were  passed  in  one  form  or 
another  in  various  States,  and  Congress  legislated  in  a  whole 
some  way  for  the  District  of  Columbia. 

Old-age  pensions  have  been  provided  in  some  European 
countries,  and  in  the  first  decade  of  this  century  Americans 
began  to  think  of  the  subject.     It  was  all  well 
pensions.  enough  to  talk  lightly  about  opportunity  when 

the  great  West  was  open,  and  when  in  the  simple 
life  of  a  generation  ago  the  problems  of  wealth  and  poverty 
were  not  pressing.  Many  people  began  to  think  that  the  time 
had  come  to  do  more  than  send  the  indigent  aged  to  the  poor- 
house.  This  remains  a  perplexing  question  which  is  now  oc 
cupying  the  attention  of  American  philanthropists  and  of 
some  legislative  bodies.1 

This  discussion  of  pensions  is  only  an  illustration  of  a  new 
humanitarian  sentiment  which  new  conditions  of  life  in  part 
produced.  New  problems  and  new  needs  for  help 
arose  on  all  sides.  Especially  there  appeared 
need  for  new  legislation  concerning  injuries  suf 
fered  by  workmen  in  course  of  their  work.  This  subject,  like 
so  many  others  of  significant  social  bearing,  became  prominent 
in  the  first  decade  of  the  century.  A  New  York  commission 
appointed  to  consider  the  question  declared  that  the  conclu 
sion  had  been  surely  coming  that  the  existing  conditions  were 
intolerable.  Under  the  law,  the  workingman  could  often 
obtain  compensation  for  injuries  only  with  great  difficulty,  and 
if  he  were  shown  guilty  of  "contributory  negligence",  he  could 
obtain  nothing  at  all.  Really  the  risks  of  the  business,  as  far  as 
life  and  limb  and  health  were  concerned,  were  largely  thrown 
on  the  workingman,  not  on  capital.  Some  acts  have  been 
passed  by  Congress  and  by  State  legislatures,  providing  that 
the  employer  take  responsibility  and  make  compensation  in 


1  Some  large  corporations,  notably  the  American  Telephone  Company, 
have  provided  for  pensions  for  employees. 


3^1  in  i  muni 
wage. 


THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY— 1900-1913    545 

case  of  accident.1  A  New  York  act,  however,  imposing  lia 
bility  on  the  employer  was  held  unconstitutional,  as  depriv 
ing  the  employer  of  his  liberty  and  property  "without  due 
process  of  law".2  The  Steel  Corporation,  the  International 
Harvester  Company  and  other  companies  have  put  into  effect 
liberal  systems  for  relief  and  care  of  workmen  injured  in 
course  of  their  work.  9 

Of  a  similar  character  is  the  agitation  over  the  minimum 
wage,  the  principle  of  which  is  that  every  employer  of  labor 
should  give  to  his  employees  receiving  the  small 
est  wage  at  least  a  certain  amount,  which  may 
be  reasonably  considered  sufficient  to  keep  the  re 
cipient  from  actual  want.  If  a  business  does  not  pay  its  em 
ployees  sufficient  for  them  to  live  on,  that  business  is  in  part 
not  self-supporting;  it  is  partly  run  at  public  expense,  for  the 
public  must  in  one  way  or  another  bear  the  burden  of  support 
This  matter  has  been  taken  up  for  legislative  consideration, 
and  large  corporations  have  begun  to  act  upon  the  principle 
of  announcing  a  minimum  wage.  So  far  (1913)  the  discussion 
has  been  chiefly  confined  to  the  wages  of  women.  That  such  a 
matter  should  be  discussed  at  all  discloses  to  us  how  far  we 
have  gone  irom  the  old  idea  that  everybody  should  be  allowed 
to  manage  his  business  as  he  wishes,  and  that  competition  alone 
must  settle  wages  and  prices  and  everything  else. 

During  the  years  under  consideration  the  great  cities 
showed  more  clearly  than  ever  before  the  new  duties  and 
responsibilities  that  rested  on  American  democracy.  There 
were  not  only  the  questions  of  securing  better  government, 

1  As  the  employer  may  have  to  pay  a  good  deal  to  an  injured  workman 
or  his  family  under  these  laws,  it  is  customary  for  the  employer  to  insure 
with  an  accident  insurance  company  and  thus,  by  paying  the  insurance 
premium,  the  cost  is  thrown  directly  on  the  business. 

2  The  New  York  decision  was  strongly  attacked  as  bad  law  and  helped 
to  strengthen  a  feeling  already  held  by  some  men  that  the  courts  in  passing 
on  constitutional  questions  are  over-technical  and  do  not  permit  sufficient 
freedom  and  progress  in  legislation.     It  helped  to  bring  in  the  demand  for 
"the  recall  of  decisions"  which  was  advocated  by  Mr.  Roosevelt  and 
others  in  1912. 

30 


546  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

but  of  making  the  city  a  good  and  pleasant  place  to  live  in. 

Public  parks,  playgrounds,  wider  streets,  public  bathing  places, 

better    health    laws,   purer    milk,   better  water; 

City  problems.  .    ' 

these  are  the  matters  that  occupied  an  increasing 
share  of  public  attention. 

Public  transportation  in  cities  is  a  matter  which  affects 
everyone  within  their  limits.  With  the  increase  of  popula- 

cit  raiiwa  s  ^on  ^^  ^e  building  °^  nu§e  skyscrapers,  the 
streets  of  the  cities  were  not  broad  enough  to 
take  care  of  the  throngs  of  people.  It  was  apparent  that  rapid 
transit  must  go  below  the  surface  of  the  streets  of  the  larger 
cities.  Subways  were  built,  the  most  extensive  that  in  New 
York,  through  which  electric  trains  can  run  from  one  end  of  the 
island  to  the  other. 

Moreover,  there  came  in  the  course  of  these  years  a  fuller 
appreciation  of  the  interest  of  the  public  in  the  ownership 
and  administration  of  transit  facilities  in  cities.  In  Chicago 
the  street  railway  problem  found  a  solution  in  part  by  an  ar 
rangement  for  the  city's  obtaining  part  of  the  net  profits;  in 
New  York  the  subway  is  owned  though  not  managed  by  the 
municipality.  The  old  plan  of  giving  away  the  valuable  right 
to  use  the  streets  has  largely  been  abandoned.  No  greater 
change  in  American  city  life  came  in  the  early  years  of  the  cen 
tury  than  that  indicated  by  the  fact  that  public  sendee  cor 
porations  came  to  see  that  they  must  act  on  the  principle  of 
pleasing  the  people  and  giving  good  service.  The  public  has 
an  interest,  and  that  interest  must  be  considered. 

Wherever  one  turns  in  the  larger  cities,  he  sees  the  new 
undertakings  which  men  faced  hi  this  decade  of  readjustment 
and  enterprise.    The  housing  of  the  poor  and  the 
ordnances,         enforcement  of  building  ordinances   that  would 
give  reasonable  security  against  fire  were  subjects 
much  discussed.    The  history  of  the  decade  shows  some  im 
provement;    but  shocking  disasters  like  the  Iroquois  fire  in 
Chicago  (1903)  are  still  possible;    and  unsanitary  tenements 
still  exist,  a  menace  to  the  health  and  safety  of  the  whole  com 
munity. 


THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY— 1900-1913    547 

A  number  of  cities  have  in  the  last  decade  adopted  the 
commission  system  of  city  government.  It  is  intended  to  do 
away  with  the  great  number  of  elective  officers, 
to  abolish  the  wards,  to  put  all  authority,  both  to 
pass  ordinances  and  administer  them,  into  the 
hands  of  a  small  commission.  The  plan,  so  far  adopted  in 
about  150  cities  of  small  or  medium  size,  has,  on  the  whole, 
proved  successful  and  helped  to  bring  about  economy  and  gen 
erally  efficient  government.  Our  whole  governmental  system 
from  city  ward  to  federal  government  is  so  complicated  that  a 
reduction  of  the  number  of  local  officers  to  be  elected  and  the 
centering  of  responsibility  upon  a  few  persons  would  seem  to 
make  it  easier  to  simplify  the  task  of  popular  control.1 

The  control  of  government  and  of  parties  by  the  people 
has  been  much  discussed  since  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 
century.  In  many  States,  the  direct  primary  has 
of°government  supplanted  the  old-time  caucus  and  convention. 
The  Referendum,  now  widely  advocated,  provides 
that  on  demand  a  proposed  legislative  measure  be  submitted 
to  the  people  for  acceptance  or  rejection.  The  Initiative  is  a 
process  whereby  a  certain  number  of  people  may  secure  the 
submission  to  popular  vote  of  a  measure  which  they  themselves 
propose.  The  initiative  and  referendum  have  been  adopted 
in  a  number  of  States, — most  of  them  in  the  West, — and  in 
some  cities.  The  Recall,  whereby  the  people  may  by  vote 
cause  the  retirement  of  an  official  before  the  expiration  of  his 
term,  has  also  been  much  discussed  and  has  been  provided  for 
to  some  extent  in  the  West. 

Before  the  end  of  Roosevelt's  term  it  was  evident  that 

there  were  strong  dissensions  in  the  Republican  ranks,  and 

the  differences  came  out  strongly  in  the  early 

Progressives.  \       ,••»«•       m«-  11      ••  • 

years  (1909-1910)  of  Mr.  Taf  t  s  administration, 
especially  in  the  tariff  debates  and  in  the  discussion  of  the  new 
Interstate  Commerce  Act.  There  were  a  number  of  men  in 


1  The  "short  ballot"  movement  is  aimed  at  the  decrease  of  the  number 
of  elective  officers. 


548  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Congress  who  were  called  "Insurgents";  they  wanted  to  go 
further  than  the  older  party  leaders  in  reduction  of  the  tariff, 
in  the  regulation  of  railroads,  and  in  other  matters  of  consider 
able  popular  interest.  They  were  restless  under  what  they  con 
sidered  the  unwise  and  rigid  control  exercised  by  the  leaders  of 
the  party  in  Congress.  Outside  of  Congress  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  sympathy  with  the  Insurgent  movement.  The  name 
"Progressive"  came  into  use  to  distinguish  this  element  from 
those  who  adhered  to  the  program  and  the  leadership  of  the 
old-time  Republicans.  As  in  all  such  cases,  it  is  not  easy  to 
mark  the  differences.  But  the  Progressives  especially  cham 
pioned,  in  addition  to  a  reduction  of  the  tariff,  certain  measures 
which  they  claimed  would  reestablish  democracy  and  give  the 
people  more  immediate  and  fuller  control  of  their  parties  and 
their  governments:  (a)  Popular  election  of  senators;  (b)  nomina 
tion  by  direct  primaries;  (c)  popular  election  of  delegates 
to  national  conventions,  or  even  the  popular  choice  of  candi 
dates  for  the  presidency;  (d)  more  general  introduction  of 
the  referendum,  initiative,  and  recall.  In  the  Congressional 
election  of  1910,  the  Democrats  were  successful  in  electing  a 
majority  of  the  House.  They  thus  held  a  majority  for  the  first 
time  in  eighteen  years.  Some  of  the  States  that  had  been 
Republican  chose  Democratic  officers. 

As  the  campaign  of  1912  approached,  these  differences  in 
the  Republican  ranks  became  more  evident;  and  it  was  plain 
that  the  Democrats  alsa  had  their  troubles.     In 
each  party  there  was  an  element  dissatisfied  with 
existing  party  conditions.     The  Republican  party 
meeting  in  June  in  Chicago  was  a  scene  of  strenuous  conflict, 
for  one  element  of  the  party  supported  Mr.  Taft  for  renomi- 
nation,  the  other,  Mr.  Roosevelt,  who  represented  the  "progres 
sive"  tendencies  of  the  party.     The  convention,  after  long  and 
bitter  debate,  chose  Mr.  Taft,  amid  charges  from  the  supporters 
of  Mr.  Roosevelt  that  the  whole  proceeding  was — to  use  a  milder 
word  than  the  one  commonly  used — unfair.       Mr.  Sherman 
was  again  nominated  for  the  vice-presidency.     The  Roosevelt 
delegates  refused  to  vote  at  all  on  the  final  ballot  for  nomina- 


THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY— 1900-1913    549 

tion,  and  immediately,  meeting  by  themselves,  announced 
their  intention  of  forming  a  Progressive  party  and  nominating 
a  candidate  for  trre  presidency.  In  August  Mr.  Roosevelt 
and  Mr.  Hiram  W.  Johnson  of  California  were  put  in  nomina 
tion  by  the  new  party. 

The   Democratic   convention   at   Baltimore   had   its   own 
stormy  time,  but  the  party  did  not  break  apart.     Governor 


THE  ELECTION  or  1912 

Woodrow  Wilson  of  New  Jersey  was  nominated  after  a  long, 
hard  struggle  and  with  him  as  candidate  for  the  vice-presi 
dency,  Thomas  R.  Marshall  of  Indiana;  both  of  whom  are 
held  to  belong  to  what  was  called  the  progressive  element  of  the 
party.  The  Socialists l  and  the  Prohibitionists  also  nominated 

1  It  is  impossible  in  a  few  words  to  give  the  position  of  the  Socialists 
or  to  define  Socialism.  They  demand  the  giving  up  of  the  whole  capitalistic 
regime.  The  program  of  the  Socialist  party  should  be  known  by  the 
careful  student  of  American  politics.  Many  of  the  things  in  the  Progressive 
platform  were  called  socialistic  because  they  advocated  more  extensive 
governmental  control  of  industry  than  we  have  been  accustomed  to.  Those 
are  the  questions  which  are  now  in  the  air  and  we  must  make  up  our  minds 
how  to  answer  them  or  how  much  to  accept.  The  Socialist  platform  of 
1912  asked  for  "collective  ownership"  of  telegraphs,  telephones,  railroads, 


550 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


The  tariff. 


candidates,  and  the  former  party  polled  in  the  election  a  largei 
vote  than  ever  before. 

The  Republican  party  advocated  "scientific"  investigation 
by  a  tariff  board  while  insisting  on  the  maintenance  of  an  effec 
tive  protective  tariff.  The  Democrats  proclaimed 
once  again  the  principle  of  a  tariff  for  revenue 
only;  but  during  the  campaign,  while  stressing  the  evils  of  the 
tariff,  they  said  they  did  not  propose  to  bring  confusion  and 
disorder  by  hurried  and  sweeping  changes.  The  Progressives, 
with  a  platform  advocating,  like  the  Republican  platform,  a 
scientific  study  of  the  tariff,  did  not  spend  much  time  in  dis 
cussion  of  that  matter  but  advocated  principles  of  social  re 
form  and  of  civic  betterment,  and  announced  that  the  two  older 
parties  were  untrustworthy  and  boss-ridden.  It  is  an  impor 
tant  fact  that  the  Progressives  did 
thus  stress  demands  for  legislation 
to  improve  industrial  conditions. 
Whatever  may  be  the  success  or  the 
failure  of  the  Progressive  party  in 
the  future — and  of  that  we  can  have 
little  or  no  idea — the  program  of 
social  change  is  here  for  discussion, 
and  that  is  significant. 

Wilson  and  Marshall  were  elected 
by  an  immense  majority  of  electoral 
votes  and  had  a  great 
popular  plurality.  Mr, 
Wilson's  inaugural  ad 
dress  was  a  noble  call  to  duty  and 
to  effort.  To  him  and  the  younger 
element  of  the  party  which  he  rep- 


grain  elevators,  mines,  forests  and  water-power,  land  where  collective 
ownership  is  practicable,  and  banking;  it  asked  for  the  shortening  of  hours 
of  labor,  the  abolition  of  the  Senate  and  of  the  veto  power  of  the  President, 
the  abolition  of  the  restrictions  on  the  amendment  of  the  Constitution, 
the  calling  of  a  convention  to  revise  the  Constitution,  and  many  other 
isocial,  industrial  and  political  changes. 


THE  EARLY  TWENTIETH  CENTURY— 1900-1913    551 

resented,  the  times  spoke  of  progress  toward  a  fuller  realization 
of  the  great  ideals  of  the  Republic.  He  made  Mr.  Bryan  his 
Secretary  of  State,  and  soon  after  his  inauguration  summoned 
a  special  session  of  Congress  chiefly  to  consider  the  tariff.  And 
thus  at  the  beginning  of  1913,  the  Democratic  party  was  again 
in  power  with  an  able  leader  at  its  head — the  second  Demo 
cratic  president  since  Buchanan.  Opposed  were  two  strong 
parties  and  the  Socialist  party  also,  which  was  no  longer  a 
negligible  factor. 

REFERENCES 

LATANE,  America  as  a  World  Power,  Chapters  X-XVIII;  HA- 
WORTH,  Reconstruction  and  the  Union,  Chapters  VIII,  IX. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

DEMOCRATIC  ASCENDANCY— THE  TARIFF— FINANCIAL 
REFORM— FOREIGN  COMPLICATIONS,  1913-1916 

The  years  of  President  Wilson's  administration  proved  to 

be  filled  with  interest  and  with  difficulty.    We  are  still  too  near 

the  events  themselves  to  get  the  proper  ouUook 

Problems.  .°.  r        . 

upon  them  and  to  see,  with  assurance,  what  are 
the  really  fateful  and  important  happenings  as  distinguished 
from  those  less  influential  or  significant.  Still  we  are  justified  in 
saying  that  few  periods  in  our  history  have  been  more  trying  or 
filled  with  greater  perplexity.  Here  we  can  give  only  a  brief 
outline  of  events  and  accomplishments  without  attempting  to 
make  the  generalizations  that  future  writers  of  history  may 
rightly  allow  themselves. 

Some  of  the  matters  which  were  under  serious  consideration 
daring  the  years  before  1913,  and  of  which  we  have  already 

spoken,  appear  to  have  lost  general  popular  interest 
Popular  ^  jjjg  succeec[jnnr  years.  There  was  at  least  no 

control.  D   * 

marked  extension  in  the  initiative  and  referendum 
and  the  recall  in  the  states,  about  which  so  much  had  been  said 
previously.  These  methods  of  popular  control  of  government 
are  still  (1916)  more  widely  used  in  the  Far  West  than  in  the 
middle  and  eastern  states,  and  there  is  still  difference  of  opinion 
concerning  the  wisdom  of  adopting  them  and  as  to  whether  they 
have  been  beneficial  where  they  are  in  use.  On  the  other  hand, 
partly  as  a  consequence  of  the  disputes  in  the  Republican 
Convention  of  1912,  many  states  established  plans  for  direct 
primaries  for  electing  delegates  to  the  national  conventions 
and  for  expressing  preferences  as  to  who  should  be  nominated. 
Of  the  delegates  chosen  to  the  national  convention  of  1916,  a 

552 


DEMOCRATIC  ASCENDANCY  553 

majority  came  from  states  having  this  preference  primary 
system.1 

In  1913,  the  Seventeenth  Amendment  of  the  Federal  Con 
stitution  was  adopted.  The  amendment  provided  for  the 
election  of  senators  from  the  states  by  the  vote  of 
Amendment  ^ne  People>  thus  doing  away  with  the  old  system  of 
election  by  state  legislatures.  Like  the  Sixteenth 
Amendment  adopted  in  the  same  year2  the  subject  of  this 
amendment  had  been  long  under  discussion.  It  was  partly  the 
product  of  the  general  movement  in  the  direction  of  a  more 
immediate  and  direct  participation  of  the  people  in  the  govern 
ment,  of  which  we  have  seen  various  evidences,3  and  partly  the 
product  of  a  very  evident  situation — the  fact  that  the  state  legis 
latures  were  often  so  absorbed  by  the  task  of  electing  senators,  so 
distracted  and,  at  times,  so  disturbed  by  partisan  conflicts,  that 
state  business  was  sadly  interfered  with. 

The  woman  suffrage  movement,  which  had  at  various  periods 
in  the  past  century  awakened  considerable  interest  and  enlisted 
some  support,  took  on  new  vigor  in  the  first  decade 
°^  ^e  Present  century.  A  number  of  states,  the 
great  majority  of  the  states,  in  fact,  of  the  western 
coast  and  the  mountain  regions,  extended  voting  rights  to 
women  before  1914.  The  next  two  years  saw  little  advance,  and 
almost  no  progress  in  the  central  states  and  the  East,  several 
of  the  eastern  states  voting  against  amendments  to  their  constitu- 


1  The  people  thus  by  ballot  elect  delegates  to  the  national  convention 
and  also  express  preference  for  presidential  candidates.    There  are  many 
important  questions,  quite  unsettled,  as  to  how  this  preferential  system  will 
work.     The  practical  problems  are  worth  careful  watching.    If  delegates  are 
not  pledged  or  definitely  instructed,  must  they  vote  for  the  candidate  in  the 
convention  for  whom  the  majority  of  voters  in  the  state  have  expressed 
preference?    If  they  a»e  pledged  or  instructed,  on  how  many  ballots  must 
they  vote  according  to  instructions — more  than  one?    What  may  be  said 
in  general  to  be  the  effect  of  the  preference?    It  is  to  be  noticed  that  no 
plan  is  provided  for  nominating  presidential  candidates  without  a  national 
convention  at  all. 

2  See  pages  533,  534,  ante,  and  see  the  Constitution  in  the  Appendix. 

3  Direct  primary,  initiative  and  referendum,  etc. 


554  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

tions.  Illinois,  in  1913,  without  amending  the  constitution, 
provided  by  legislative  enactment  for  the  right  of  women  to 
vote  for  certain  officers,  viz.,  for  presidential  electors  and  for 
state  and  local  officers  whose  election  by  the  state  constitution 
is  not  in  the  hands  of  male  voters.1 

When  President  Wilson  came  into  office  it  was  known  that 
he  sympathized  with  the  more  radical  or  more  "progressive" 
element  of  his  party  and  people;  at  least  he  was 
The  President's  not  satisfied  with  political  and  commercial  condi- 
beiie'fs!  tions.  '  His  book  called  "The  New  Freedom "  urged 

the  necessity  of  "fitting  a  new  social  organization 
to  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  people."  Doubtless 
many  people  feared  that  he  would  commit  himself  and  seek  to 
commit  the  Government  to  new  and  dangerously  radical 
measures.  The  writer  of  these  lines  has  seen  no  evidence  of 
strong  discontent  with  the  Administration  on  the  score  of  its 
being  radical,  visionary,  or  destructive.  Doubtless  the  President 
believed  in  some  such  way  as  did  Jefferson  in  1800,  that  in  his 
election  a  new  era  for  the  people  was  ushered  in;  but  probably 
it  is  wise  and  safe  to  say  that  nothing  peculiarly  destructive 
has  been  attempted. 

The  President  appears  to  have  believed  that  closer  relations 
should  be  maintained  between  the  executive  and  the  legislature. 
He  has  not  hesitated  to  use  his  influence  to  obtain 
tne  Passa£e  °f  measures  by  Congress  and  has  on 
several  matters  under  discussion  spoken  out  with 
distinctness.  With  hopes  of  creating  a  closer  relationship,  he 
has  personally  appeared  before  Congress;  abandoning  the 
practice  of  presenting  only  written  messages  to  that  body — a 
practice  uniformly  followed  since  Jefferson  came  to  the  chair — 
he  has  read  his  annual  messages  to  both  Houses,  and  has  on  a 
few  other  special  occasions  used  a  like  method  of  presenting  his 


1  It  is  probable  that  the  comparative  lack  of  interest  in  some  subjects 
which  were  widely  discussed  and  debated  before  the  summer  of  1914,  was 
due  to  the  outbreak  of  the  European  War  and  the  multitude  of  absorbing 
questions  which  arose  here  in  consequence  of  it. 


DEMOCRATIC  ASCENDANCY  555 

views  on  matters  of  public  importance.  It  is  not  now  clear  that 
by  this  method  much  has  been  accomplished  in  the  way  of 
establishing  greater  unity  or  cooperation.  Probably  we  can 
wisely  say  that  the  personal  interviews  between  the  President 
and  influential  leaders  in  Congress,  especially  those  of  his  own 
party,  will  long  be,  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  the  chief  agency 
for  making  and  maintaining  mutual  understanding1 — as  it  is 
sometimes  said,  "  bringing  the  two  ends  of  Pennsylvania 
Avenue  together." 

Naturally,  as  the  Democrats  had  taken  a  stand  against  the 
tariff — at  least  against  the  high  Republican  protective  tariff— 
The  tariff  President  Wilson  took  up  the  question  soon  after  his 
inauguration.  To  Congress  in  special  session 
April,  1913,  he  sent  a  message  advocating  a  prompt  and  thorough 
revision  of  the  tariff.  Among  other  things  he  made  plain  that 
he  believed  that  competition  was  of  greater  value  than  protec 
tion,  if  protection  shielded  and  defended,  and  hence  perpetuated, 
incompetent  industry: 

"We  must  abolish  everything  that  bears  even  the  semblance 
of  privilege  or  of  any  kind  of  artificial  advantage,  and  put  our 
business  men  and  producers  under  the  stimulation  of  a  constant 
necessity  to  be  efficient,  economical  and  enterprising,  masters  of 
competitive  supremacy,  better  workers  and  merchants  than  any 
in  the  world.  Aside  from  the  duties  laid  upon  articles  which  we 
do  not,  and  probably  cannot,  produce,  therefore,  and  the  uties 
laid  upon  luxuries  and  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  revenues  they 
yield,  the  object  of  the  tariff  duties  henceforth  laid  must  be 
effective  competition,  the  whetting  of  American  wits  by  contest 

1  One  of  the  values  of  our  party  system  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  aids  in 
producing  harmony  in  action  and  purpose  between  the  President  and 
Congress,  and,  in  the  states,  between  governors  and  legislatures.  Sometimes 
the  majority  in  one  or  both  houses  does  not  belong  to  the  same  party  as  the 
President.  When  that  is  the  case,  there  is  likely  to  be  more  or  less  disagree 
ment,  though  it  has  not  very  seriously  affected  governmental  action  as  a  rule. 
That  there  should  be  distinct  cooperation  and  understanding  between  the 
executive  department,  which  we  might  call  the  revenue  spending  branch, 
and  Congress,  the  revenue  raising  branch,  students  of  government  would 
generally  declare  to  be  desirable. 


556  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

with  the  wits  of  the  rest  of  the  world."  After  prolonged  discus 
sion  the  new  tariff  bill,  known  as  the  Underwood  bill,  was  enacted 
(signed  October  3,  1913)  into  law.  It  provided  for  substantial 
reductions  of  duties  on  imported  articles.  Raw  wool  was  put 
on  the  free  list,  while  the  duties  on  woolens  were  greatly  lessened. 
The  chief  reductions,  besides  those  on  wool  and  woolens,  were 
In  duties  on  cotton  goods,  flax  and  hemp  and  goods  made  from 
them,  iron  and  steel,  sugar  and  agricultural  products.  Among 
the  important  provisions  of  the  new  law  was  one  to  secure 
revenue  by  the  taxation  of  incomes.  It  levies  a  tax  of  one 
per  cent,  on  all  incomes  in  excess  of  $4,000  per  year  if  the  recip 
ients  are  married,  and  in  excess  of  $3,000  if  single.  On  incomes  of 
more  than  $20,000,  larger  taxes  are  levied  in  accordance  with 
the  principles  of  graduation.1 

Next  in  order  after  the  modification  of  the  tariff  came  plans 
for  legislation  on  the  currency  and  banking.  The  subject  had 

been  discussed  in  and  out  of  Congress  for  a  good 
currency  bill.  many  vears-  In  I9I3>  largely  under  the  influence 

of  the  President,  the  Federal  Reserve  or  Currency 
bill  was  passed.  It  was  intended  to  remedy  three  main  defects 
in  the  currency  and  banking  system:  (i)  Bank  reserves,  that  is 
to  say,  the  money  reserved  to  meet  ordinary  demands  upon  a 
bank,  were  not  under  general  direction  or  could  not  be  mobilized 
in  time  of  real  need;  each  bank  shifted  largely  for  itself  and 
sometimes  was  unable  to  make  use  of  its  own  real  resources. 
The  new  act  proposed  to  remedy  this  trouble  by  providing  for  a 
small  number  of  federal  reserve  banks,  each  in  a  distinct  region, 
to  hold  large  portions  of  the  reserves  of  the  individual  banks.  (2) 
The  old  currency  system  was  inelastic;  that  is,  there  was  no  ade 
quate  means  of  increasing  or  regulating  the  amount  of  money  in 
circulation  to  meet  unusual  demands;  there  was  no  adequate 
means  of  adjusting  the  amount  of  money  to  the  legitimate  needs 
of  business.  Under  the  old  system  it  often  happened  that  a 

1  See  ante  p.  504.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  advisability  of  taxing 
incomes  had  long  been  under  discussion.  The  adoption  of  the  Sixteenth 
Amendment  made  it  possible  to  tax  incomes  without  distribution  according 
to  population.  See  ante  p.  508,  533~534- 


DEMOCRATIC  ASCENDANCY  557 

merchant  with  property  and  perfectly  good  credit  could  not, 
especially  in  a  panic,  get  money  from  the  banks,  and,  indeed, 
the  banks  themselves  could  not  get  the  money  to  meet  real 
demands,  though  they  had  in  their  vaults  plenty  of  good  "  paper," 
i.  e.  plenty  of  good  securities,  evidences  of  real  wealth,  which 
were,  however,  not  money  for  circulation.  Under  the  Federal 
Reserve  Act,  federal  reserve  notes  may  be  issued  on  the  basis 
Of  high-grade  commercial  paper;  and  thus,  it  is  expected,  the 
amount  of  currency  will  correspond  to  the  actual  needs  of  busi 
ness.  A  bank  may  call  on  the  Federal  Reserve  bank  for  notes — 
money — offering  the  "paper"  it  holds1  in  exchange  for  the 
Federal  Reserve  notes.  (3)  Under  the  older  system,  the  govern 
ment  money  was  deposited  either  in  the  various  subtreasuries 
or  in  national  banks,  the  distribution  being  largely  in  the 
power  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  There  were  various 
undesirable  features  in  this  arrangement.  The  new  law  provides 

1  Any  bank,  a  member  of  the  Federal  Reserve  system,  (for  the  individual 
banks  are  "members")  can,  in  case  of  need,  as  explained  above,  take  its 
securities  of  high  grade  to  the  regional  Reserve  bank  and  get  notes.  Thus 
its  funds  are  not  tied  up  in  securities  of  one  kind  or  another  when  what  the 
community  needs  is  ready  money.  It  must  be  remembered  that  a  very  large 
portion  of  the  business  of  the  land  is  carried  on  without  money,  but  with 
checks  and  on  the  basis  of  credit;  but  times  come  when  men  want  money, 
especially  in  time  of  panic  when  credit  is  shaken.  Those  have  been  just  the 
times  when  banks  have  feared  to  give  out  freely  their  reserve  cash  and  when 
it  was  almost  impossible  to  dispose  of  the  bonds,  notes  from  individuals  and 
other  sorts  of  paper  which  constituted  the  real  resources  of  the  bank.  A 
bank  cannot,  of  course,  keep  in  its  vaults  enough  ready  cash  to  pay  every 
depositor  on  demand  if  all  apply  at  once.  Much  of  its  money  is  loaned  to 
borrowers;  it  has  got  to  lend  the  money  deposited  with  it,  for  that  is  the  way 
it  makes  money.  For  the  money  loaned  by  a  bank,  it  receives  "paper," 
promises  to  pay;  these  promises — notes  from  individuals  and  other  kinds  of 
securities — are  probably  perfectly  good,  but  in  times  of  stress  when  there  is 
doubt  about  financial  conditions  and  credit,  the  bank  may  not  be  able  to 
get  money  for  the  paper  in  order  to  pay  its  depositors.  Neither,  under  the 
old  system,  could  it  accommodate  a  new  borrower  in  urgent  need  of  money 
and  with  perfectly  good  security  to  offer,  because  it  needed  its  money  and 
felt  it  must  hold  tight  to  its  cash.  The  student  will,  I  hope,  understand  from 
the  text,  that  the  new  act  was  to  provide  a  remedy  for  such  difficulties.  It 
is  intended  to  furnish  a  means  whereby  the  money  to  be  used  for  business 
purposes  will  correspond  in  amount  with  real  business  needs. 


558  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

for  deposit  of  most  of  the  government  money  in  Federal  Reserve 
banks.  Portions  of  the  reserve  bank  profits  over  a  certain 
percentage  are  to  go  to  the  national  government.  The  act 
provided  for  a  Federal  Reserve  Board  to  have  general  supervi 
sion  of  the  system,  and  for  regional  banks,  not  more  than  twelve 
in  number.  In  1914,  twelve  districts  were  marked  out,  each 
to  have  a  bank  in  a  leading  city.1 

After  signing  the  Federal  Reserve  measure,  President  Wilson 
spoke  a  few  words  to  the  Democratic  leaders  who  were  with  him. 
Perhaps  he  intended  to  quiet  the  fears  of  those  who 
and  b^sTne^s  thought  that  his  administration  would  be  hostile  to- 
business  interests.  "We  have  slowly  been  coming 
to  this  time  which  has  now,  happily,  arrived  when  there  is  a 
common  recognition  of  the  things  that  it  is  undesirable  should 
be  done  in  business,  and  the  things  that  it  is  desirable  should  be 
done.  .  .  .  Business  men  of  all  sorts  are  showing  their  willingness 
to  come  into  this  arrangement,  which  I  venture  to  characterize 
as  the  constitution  of  peace.  So  that  by  common  counsel,  and 
by  the  accumulating  force  of  cooperation,  we  are  going  to  seek 
more  and  more  to  serve  the  country." 

The  most  difficult  and  trying  problems  which  confronted 
President  Wilson  arose  out  of  foreign  affairs.  Let  us  see  the 
source  and  the  nature  of  the  President's  power  in 
President's  managing  diplomatic  relations.  Under  our  con- 
foreign  affairs,  stitutional  system,  he  has  these  matters,  in  a  large 
degree,  in  his  own  hands.  With  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  provided  two-thirds  of  the  Senators 
present  consent,  he  makes  treaties,2  the  universal  practice  being 
that  the  finished  treaty  is  turned  over  to  the  Senate  for  ratifica 
tion  or  rejection.  Almost  complete  power  in  handling  ordinary 
diplomatic  concerns  is  in  the  President's  hands,  and  this  is  so 
largely  because  of  the  practical — and  perhaps  necessary — inter- 

1  The  cities  selected  are  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Cleveland, 
Richmond,  Atlanta,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Minneapolis,  Kansas  City,  Dallas, 
San  Francisco. 

2  See  Constitution,  Art.  n,  Sec.  2,  §2. 


DEMOCRATIC  ASCENDANCE  559 

pretation  of  one  brief  sentence  in  the  Constitution:  "he  shall 
receive  ambassadors  and  other  public  ministers."1  In  addition 
to  this  grant  of  authority,  he  is  given,  of  course,  the  right  to  ap 
point  ministers,  subject  to  the  approval  by  the  Senate  of  the  per 
son  appointed.  He  can,  thus,  by  sending  a  minister  to  a  foreign 
country  and  by  receiving  a  minister  from  that  country,  recognize 
the  government  of  that  country,  a  power  of  considerable  im 
portance  when  there  has  been  a  revolution  or  serious  insurrection 
and  there  is,  in  consequence,  a  question  as  to  whether  a  govern 
ment  is  sufficiently  established  in  fact  to  be  accepted  as  the  real 
government.  He  can  also  refuse  to  receive  ministers  represent 
ing  foreign  countries  and  can  dismiss  them  or  demand  their  recall. 
All  communications  with  foreign  governments  are  under  his 
control  and  subject  to  his  direction,  though  the  practice  is 
unvaried  that  dispatches  are  signed  by  the  Secretary  of  State.2 

Soon  after  his  inauguration,  President  Wilson  said:  "One 
of  the  chief  objects  of  my  administration  will  be  to  cultivate  the 

friendship  and  deserve  the  confidence  of  our  sister 
toward*  Republics  of  Central  and  South  America  and  to 

Latin  America,   promote  in  every  proper  and  honorable  way  the 

interests  which  are  common  to  people  of  the  two 
continents.  .  .  .  Cooperation  is  possible  only  when  supported 
at  every  turn  by  the  orderly  processes  of  just  government, 
based  on  law  and  not  upon  arbitrary  or  irregular  force.  .  .  .  The 
United  States  has  nothing  to  seek  in  Central  and  South  America 
except  the  lasting  interests  of  the  peoples  of  the  two  con 
tinents.  .  .  ."  At  a  later  lime  he  declared:  "The  United 

1  See  Constitution,  Art.  n,  Sec.  3. 

2  Of  course  ordinary  routine  matters  of  diplomacy  are  carried  on  in  the 
office  of  the  Secretary  of  State;  and  frequently  the  whole  course  of  procedure 
is  there  determined.    Even  very  important  subjects  are  often  really,  as  well 
as  ostensibly,  managed  by  the  Secretary  himself.    Much  depends  upon  the 
gravity  of  the  subject,  on  the  character  and  personal  power  of  the  Secretary, 
and  on  the  amount  of  direction  which  the  President  is  able  to  exercise  or 
desires  to  exercise.    The  President  commonly  also  keeps  in  communiation, 
when  the  situation  is  especially  difficult  or  menacing,  with  the  chairman  of 
the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs.   But  when  all  is  said,  the  President 
is  responsible. 


560  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

States  will  never  again  seek  an  additional  foot  of  territory  by 
conquest." 

Guided,  it  would  seem,  by  the  spirit  of  these  sentences,  he 
refused  to  "recognize"  the  Huerta  government  in  Mexico. 
Huerta  had  overthrown  the  Madero  government 
and,  it  was  commonly  believed,  owed  his  place  and 
power  to  the  most  ruthless  and  violent  methods.  Mexico  had 
been  for  some  time  in  a  state  of  disorder  and  distress;  various 
factions  strove  for  power;  and,  as  the  contests  went  on,  ruin, 
utter  and  complete,  seemed  to  threaten  the  distressed  country. 
Some  persons  believed  our  President  ought  to  have  recognized 
Huerta  at  once;  they  asserted  that  by  doing  so  further  turmoil 
and  disagreeable  complications  would  have  been  avoided.  There 
may  still  be  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  Presi 
dent's  course;  in  truth,  the  whole  problem  is  filled  with  per 
plexity.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  our  Govern 
ment  was  actuated  by  a  desire  to  frown  upon  the  kind  of  gov 
ernment  that  Huerta  represented  and  upon  the  methods  he 
pursued  in  grasping  power;  and  it  was  also  moved  by  the  belief 
that,  only  when  there  was  an  orderly  government  based  on 
something  besides  brutality  and  the  dagger,  could  our  associa 
tion  with  Mexico  be  cordial  and  helpful. 

Huerta  failed  in  establishing  his  power,  failed  probably  in 

part  because  the  United  States  refused  to  recognize  him  and 

looked  with  favor  on  his  opponent  Carranza.    The 

The  Veracruz   turmoii  continued   and  threatened  constantly  to 

incident.  '. 

entangle  us,  even  to  bring  on  forcible  intervention. 
April  9,  1914,  a  boat's  crew  from  one  of  our  warships,  the 
Dolphin,  landing  for  supplies  at  Tampico,  were  arrested  by  a 
Mexican  officer  of  the  Huerta  school;  though  they  were  released 
almost  immediately,  our  Admiral  considered  the  affront  too 
serious  to  be  passed  over  lightly.  He  demanded  formal  dis 
avowal  and  apology  and  the  salute  of  the  American  flag.  When 
this  demand  was  not  complied  with,  trouble  followed;  for  the 
President  believing,  we  may  imagine,  that  it  was  unwise  to 
appear  weak  or  vacillating  in  dealing  with  Huerta,  supported  the 
Admiral.  More  warships  were  sent  to  Mexican  waters,  and,  as 


DEMOCRATIC  ASCENDANCY  561 

the  Mexican  authorities  continued  to  haggle  and  not  to  comply, 
our  forces  after  a  brief  struggle  seized  the  port  and  city  of  Vera 
Cruz.1 

The  story  from  now  on  is,  if  anything,  more  confusing  than 

before;  it  is  a  tale  of  violence  and  lawlessness  and  fighting  factions 

in  Mexico,  of  protests  and  warnings  and  patient 

Continuous        admonitions  from  Washington,  of  annoyance  ap- 

confusion  .  .          °.  f 

in  Mexico.  preaching  dangerous  irritation  among  our  people, 
who  continued,  however,  to  hope  that  all  would 
come  out  well  or  at  least  that  we  should  not  be  drawn  or  driven 
into  war.  In  July,  1914,  Huerta  gave  up  hope  of  establishing  his 
authority  and  soon  departed  for  Europe,  leaving  Mexico  and 
the  scenes  of  her  disorder  behind  him.  In  November,  1914,  our 
troops  were  withdrawn  from  Vera  Cruz. 

Huerta's  abdication  did  not,  however,  mean  that  all  questions 
were  set  at  rest;  for  Carranza  who  appeared  to  have  the  best 
chance  of  securing  a  strong  hold  on  the  government  and  becom 
ing  real  master  of  the  situation  was  beset  with  warring  factions. 

In  the  course  of  these  tiresome  and  try  Lag  discussions,  at 
least  one  thing  of  great  importance  was  done;  our  Government 

1  It  is  quite  impossible  in  a  few  words  to  tell  the  story  of  our  difficulties 
with  Mexico.  Of  course  the  whole  trouble  was  not  due  to  anything  we  did  or 
did  not  do,  nor  was  it  due  to  the  flag  incident  in  Tampico  harbor.  Possibly 
the  resolution  offered  by  Senator  Lodge  in  the  Senate  (1914)  fairly  well 
represents  the  situation:  "That  the  state  of  unrestrained  violence  and 
anarchy  which  exists  hi  Mexico,  the  numerous  unchecked  and  unpunished 
murders  of  American  citizens,  and  the  spoliation  of  their  property  in  that 
country,  the  impossibility  of  securing  protection  or  redress  by  diplomatic 
methods  in  the  absence  of  lawful  or  effective  authority,  the  inability  of 
Mexico  to  discharge  its  international  obligations,  the  unprovoked  insults 
and  indignities  inflicted  upon  the  flag  and  the  uniform  of  the  United  States 
by  the  armed  forces  in  occupation  of  large  parts  of  Mexican  territory,  have 
become  intolerable.  That  the  self-respect  and  dignity  of  the  United  States 
and  the  duty  to  protect  its  citizens  and  its  international  rights  require  that 
such  a  course  be  followed  in  Mexico  by  our  government  as  to  compel  respect 
and  observance  of  its  rights." 

Intolerable?    Yes,  perhaps;  but  we  continued  to  tolerate  it.    What  else 
was  to  be  done?    Physical  punishment  is  frequently  the  easiest  and  the  least 
remunerative  form  of  discipline.     Can  you  make  a  naughty  and  ignorant 
boy  good  and  intelligent  and  neighborly  and  gentle  by  whipping  him? 
37 


562  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

decided  to  share  the  responsibility  with  the  countries  of  South 

America.    First  the  governments  of  Argentina,  Brazil  and  Chile 

tendered  their  good  offices  to  the  United  States 

South  American  and  Mexico.1    Though  the  good  offices  of  these 

representatives  ,  .  °        .  ... 

confer.  powers  were  accepted,  nothing  of  decided  advan 

tage  appeared  to  come  from  this  friendly  mediation, 
except — and  that  is  a  good  deal — increased  good  will  and  friend 
ship  with  the  leading  South  American  states.  Again  in  1915  the 
United  States  asked  and  obtained  the  cooperation  of  these 
three  powers  and  of  three  others.2  Conferences  were  held; 
messages  were  sent  to  Mexico;  patience  was  indulged  in,  and 
finally  the  decision  was  reached  that "  the  de  facto  government  of 
Mexico  of  which  General  Carranza  is  the  chief  executive"  should 
be  recognized.  Soon  after  this  announcement,  we  established 
diplomatic  relations  with  Mexico,  receiving  an  ambassador 
sent  by  the  Carranza  government3  (December,  1915)  and  sending 
our  ambassador  in  return. 

Was  this  all?     Not  all  by  any  means!     Could  Carranza 

really  maintain  peace  and  good  order,  and  a  capable  government? 

That  was  the  question.  There  was  Villa,  a  vigorous, 

The  elusive       determined,  skillful  brigand  who  had  been  fighting 

and  trouble-  „  ',  ,    ,  ...    6  ..    6 

some  Villa.  as  Carranza  s  supporter  and  then  turned  against  him. 
No  one  in  this  country  knew  what  Villa  wanted;  but 
he  probably  wanted  to  make  trouble  and  he  certainly  knew  how. 
In  the  earlymonths  of  1916  he  and  his  men  menaced  the  American 
border,  and  in  March  attacked  the  town  of  Columbus,  New 
Mexico.  They  were  driven  back,  but  this  last  dastardly  stroke 
was  too  much  for  any  nation  to  bear  calmly;  American  forces 
were  ordered  into  Mexico  to  punish  Villa.  American  troops 
penetrated  several  hundred  miles  into  Mexican  territory  and 
were  victorious  in  skirmishes  of  no  mean  proportions,  but  the 

1  In  April,  1914,  at  the  time  of  the  Vera  Cruz  episode. 

2  The  additional  three  were  Bolivia,  Uruguay,  and  Guatemala. 

8 President  Wilson's  message  to  Congress,  December,  1915.  "Whether 
we  have  benefited  Mexico  by  the  course  we  have  pursued  remains  to  be 
seen.  .  .  .  The  moral  is,  that  the  states  of  America  are  not  hostile  rivals 
but  cooperating  friends.  .  .  .  This  is  Pan-Americanism.  It  has  none  of 
the  spirit  of  the  empire  in  it.  It  is  the  embodiment,  the  effectual  embodiment, 
of  the  spirit  of  law  and  independence  and  liberty  and  mutual  service." 


DEMOCRATIC  ASCENDANCY  563 

wily  outlaw  himself  avoided  capture,  and  the  game  of  hide  and 
seek  seemed  nearly  profitless. 

In  June,   Carranza,  whom  we  had  previously  aided  and 
favored,  demanded  that  our  troops  be  withdrawn  from  Mexican 

territory  and  that  we  give  up  the  hunt  for  the 
inevitable.  bandits  and  outlaws  who  endangered  our  border 

towns  and  ranches.  This  step  President  Wilson 
at  first  refused  to  take,  asserting  that,  until  the  Mexican  govern 
ment  showed  ability  and  willingness  to  keep  order,  we  must  keep 
our  troops  on  Mexican  soil.  At  a  later  time,  however,  the 
troops  were  withdrawn  and  the  war  which  had  seemed  likely  or 
inevitable  was  avoided. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  great  war  which  broke  upon  the  world  in  August,  1914, 
fyad  many  causes,  and  if  we  should  endeavor  to  find  all  the  roots 

of  the  controversy,  we  should  have  to  go  far  back 
ambitions  *n  European  history.  Germany,  Austria-Hungary 

and  Italy  were  joined  in  what  was  called  the  Triple 
Alliance.  Likewise  Russia  and  France  were  allied.  Great 
Britain  at  a  recent  date  had  entered  into  cordial  relations  with 
France — the  entente  cordiale — but  also  had  been  desirous  of 
reaching  friendly  understanding  with  Germany.  Germany,  full 
of  pride  and  relying  on  her  great  army,  was  craving  wider  do 
minion  and  was  lusting  for  conquests,  planning  to  gain  control 
of  large  markets  for  her  exclusive  possession.  She  had  been 
exceedingly  prosperous  for  some  decades  but  was  not  content 
with  the  normal  gains  of  trade;  she  wanted  to  bring  more 
territory  under  her  authority.  Her  whole  governmental  system, 
and  worse  still  her  whole  national  system,  was  cursed  with  the 
philosophy  of  militarism  and  with  Machtpolitik,  i.e.,  the  policy 
of  force;  she  trusted  in  the  mailed  fist  and  believed  that  a  great 
dominion  lay  open  before  her  if  she  used  her  powers.1 

The  Balkan  peninsula  was  a  center  of  difficulty,  and  offered 
the  opportunity  for  conflict  and  conquest.  The  people  of  that 

region,  save  the  Turks,  who  had  been  driven  back 
problem.  c^ose  to  Constantinople,  were  largely  of  Slavic 

origin;  in  them  Russia  had  a  certain  sentimental 
interest  and  over  them  the  Russian  Government  claimed  the 

1  No  one  can  say  just  how  thoroughly  the  plain  people  knew  and  realized 
the  system  or  the  philosophy  of  brute  force;  but  the  plain  people  had 
little  to  say  about  the  policy  of  state.  The  story  of  the  ambitions  and  the 
long  preparation,  the  intolerant  zeal,  and  the  developed  egoism  of  Ger 
many  is  one  full  of  significance.  It  brought  woe  upon  nearly  the  whole 
world  as  well  as  upon  herself. 

564 


THE  WORLD  WAR  565 

right  to  a  vague  protection.  With  these  interests  was  also 
mingled  a  desire  on  the  part  of  Russia  to  have  Constantinople, 
because  she  wanted  a  "warm  water"  port  and  an  assured  out 
let  for  her  products.  On  the  other  hand,  Germany  and  her  ally, 
Austria-Hungary,  wished  to  secure  and  to  control  a  highway  to 
Constantinople  and  onward  across  Asia  Minor.  The  ambitions, 
suspicions  and  jealousies  that  prevailed  were  sources  of  constant 
danger. 

The  murder  of  the  Archduke  of  Austria,  June  28,  1914,  was 
the  immediate  occasion  or  excuse  for  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 

The  assassins  were  subjects  of  Austria  but  by  race 
for  the  war.  Serbians.  Serbia  was  held  responsible  by  Austria, 

and  demands  of  the  most  serious  kind  were  made 
upon  Serbia,  demands  having  the  character  of  an  ultimatum. 
To  most  of  these  demands  Serbia  yielded  and  sought  to  be 
conciliating.  It  is  quite  plain  that,  had  Germany  and  Austria 
consented  to  quiet  discussion,  war  might  have  been  avoided.1 
Great  Britain  urged  discussion  and  delay;  but  the  moment  was 
too  favorable,  Germany  thought,  and  Europe  was  hurled  into 
war.2  We  now  know  not  only  the  restless  craving  of  the  German 
military  class  but  Germany's  position  behind  the  Austrian 
ultimatum:  If  Serbia  could  be  crushed,  the  road  to  Constanti 
nople  and  the*  East  would  be  securely  in  the  hands  of  Germany 


*  1  There  is  evidence  that  the  German  government  decided  on  war  early  in 
July,  before  the  rest  of  the  world,  save  probably  Austria,  had  any  idea  that 
war  was  to  come.  Indeed,  it  seems  quite  orobable  that  plans  had  been  made 
long  before  for  a  war  in  1914.  The  Pan-German  party  had  visions  of  a  wide 
domination  resting  on  conquest,  and  the  whole  military  faction  was  eager 
to  exhibit  on  the  field  of  battle  the  superior  power  and  capacity  of  the  empire. 
2  Of  course  the  origins  of  the  war  were  much  farther  back  than  the  murder 
of  the  Archduke  or  even  the  German  plans  to  push  her  power  in  the  near 
east.  The  truth  is  that  the  military  classes,  if  not  the  people  as  a  whole, 
wanted  war;  militarism  was  working  out  naturally.  "The  true  cause  of 
the  war  is  the  fact  that  the  powers  in  Germany  which  can  make  war  ad- 
dently  desired  to  do  so,  and  therefore  seized  upon  the  assassination,  as  a 
German  Socialist  expressed  it,  as  a  gift  from  heaven."  Gauss,  Why  We 
Went  to  War,  p.  71.  For  years  the  German  emperor  and  the  whole  military 
clique  had  been  clattering  the  sword  in  the  scabbard,  even  when  not  actually 
threatening  war. 


566  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

and  her  ally;  and  if  a  world  war  broke  out — well,  the  might  of 
German  arms  would  prevail. 

The  assault  on  Serbia  was  made  despite  the  fact  that  it  was 
fully  known  that  Russia  would  not  consent  to  German  domina 
tion  in  the  Balkans  and  despite  the  fact  that  France 
What  would       would  stand  by  the  side  of  her  ally.    France,  fear- 
Britain  do?         mg  German  aggression,  as  she  had  done  for  over 
forty  years,  could  not  stand  aloof.     What  Great 
Britain  would  do  in  case  war  broke  out  was  perhaps  uncertain. 
Germany  expected,  or  rather  tried  to  believe,  that  Britain  would 
stay  out;   Britain  did  not  wish  war  and  made  every  effort  to 
prevent  it,  but  her  efforts  were  in  vain.    For  years  many  persons 
in  Germany  had  carefully  nourished  ill-will  toward  England, 
but  the  German  government  appeared  to  expect  nevertheless 
that  the  British  people  would  sit  by,  see  France  demolished  and 
robbed  of  her  colonies,  and  quietly  accept  the  supremacy  of 
German  military  power  on  the  continent  and  in  the  Near  East. 
War  broke  out  at  the  beginning  of  August;  Germany  rushed 
into  it  pell-mell,  much  as  if  the  nation  had  run  amuck,  to  use 
President  Wilson's  words  of   a   later   day.     The 
Beginnings.        easiest  way  to   reach  Paris  and  crush  the  very 

An  attack  '*  . 

on  Belgium.  center  of  France  was  through  Belgium,  a  neutral 
state,  whose  neutrality  had  beeft  guaranteed 
by  the  larger  states  of  Europe,  including  Prussia.  Germany 
prepared,  then,  to  pass  through  Belgium;  no  small  nation,  no 
peace-loving  people  should  stand  in  her  way;  if  Belgium  object 
ed,  so  much  the  worse  for  Belgium.  Belgium  did  object,  and 
so  did  Great  Britain.  The  invasion  of  the  little  nation  aroused 
the  British  people  as  they  have  rarely  been  aroused  in  their 
history.  It  was  an  ill  day  for  Germany  when  she  summoned  the 
sea  power  of  Britain  to  fight  against  her.1  The  German  army 
beat  down  Belgian  opposition,  burned  Belgian  towns,  slaugh 
tered  peaceful  citizens,  and  awakened  the  resentment  of  the 
world. 


1  Turkey  joined  Germany  and  Austria;  and  after  a  time  Bulgaria  took 
a  like  step.  Italy  joined  Britain  and  France  in  the  spring  of  1915.  Japan 
a  ad,  later,  Roumania  also  entered  the  conflict  on  the  side  of  the  Allies. 


THE  WORLD  WAR  567 

Soon  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war  in  Europe,  a  proclamation 
of  neutrality  was  issued  by  the  President  and  he  asked  the  citi 
zens  of  the  United  States  to  "act  and  speak  in  the 
American  true  spirit  of  neutrality."    The  American  people 

neutrality.  were  busily  engaged  in  their  own  ordinary  occu 
pations,  and  had  been  expecting  that,  if  serious 
trouble  came,  it  would  come  from  Mexico  and  not  from  across 
the  water.  As  far  as  we  had  any  diplomatic  or  foreign  policy 
at  all,  it  was  the  traditional  policy  of  holding  aloof  from  the 
broils,  the  tangled  politics  and  controversies  of  Europe.1  At 
first  the  people  were  amazed,  dazed  and  doubtful.  Having  lived 
for  years  in  a  world  apart  from  the  great  rivalries  and  suspicions 
of  Europe,  having  known  of  vast  armies  and  forced  military 
service  and  heavy  armament  only  from  the  newspapers,  not 
from  experience,  having  acquired  little  or  no  knowledge  of 
"world  politics"  or  having  looked  upon  it  as  an  amusing  and 
dangerous  game  in  which  America  had  no  real  interest,  having 
been  accustomed  to  think  of  other  nations  in  a  friendly  way 
without  cherishing  jealousies  or  suspicions,  the  American 
people  awoke  to  see  the  world  in  flames.  There  was  no  small 
number  of  persons  who  had,  it  is  true,  come  to  this  country  in 
recent  years,  and  some  of  them  knew  about  the  military  prepara 
tions  of  Europe;  some  of  them  had  come  to  America  to  escape 
the  burdens  of  a  military  regime;  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the 


1  This  general  policy  of  holding  aloof  from  Europe  had  its  beginning  in 
the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  question  then  was  whether 
the  United  States  would  continue  to  be  a  pawn  in  the  game  of  European 
ambitions  and  rivalries  or  would  live  her  own  life  unvexed  by  the  troubles 
of  the  old  world.  Washington's  famous  farewell  address  warned  against 
permanent  alliances;  the  belief  that  the  United  States  should  be  really 
independent  of  European  influence  was  pretty  well  grounded  before  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Though  the  country  in  1812  was 
drawn  into  the  Napoleonic  wars,  the  sentiment  continued  and  found  expres 
sion  in  the  Monroe  doctrine  of  1823.  The  Monroe  doctrine  objected  to  the 
idea  that  European  nations  should  extend  their  political  system  to  this 
hemisphere;  but  it  also  included  an  assertion  of  our  intention  not  to  inter 
fere  in  European  affairs.  See  ante,  p.  274.  See  "Monroe  Doctrine"  in 
Cyclopedia  of  American  Government,  or  in  any  of  the  larger  histories  of 
the  United  States. 


568  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

main  body  of  the  people  thought  little  of  European  conditions. 
It  took  time  for  the  masses  of  the  people  to  see  the  cause  or  to 
appreciate  the  meaning  of  the  struggle  as  it  unfolded  itself  before 
their  eyes.  There  were  conflicting  sympathies  among  the 
different  elements  of  the  population,  though  even  this  was  not 
so  very  noticeable  to  the  common  observer  during  the  earlier 
days  of  the  war.  We  did  not  think  that  we  should  be  drawn 
into  the  war  and  compelled  to  take  a  part  not  only  in  the  conflict 
itself  but  in  the  whole  difficult  task  of  European  adjustment 
and  the  settlement  of  the  world's  peace. 

In  the  early  months  of  the  war  there  was  much  serious  dis 
cussion  and  much  quiet  thought  on  the  whole  subject  of  war  and 
its  effects.  Many  people  had  been  hoping  that, 
about  war.  ^7  the  Hague  Conferences  and  other  agencies,  the 
world  might  be  saved  from  war.  Are  nations  to  be 
reared  in  feelings  of  hostility  to  other  nations,  or  can  they  learn 
to  live  on  the  basis  of  neighborliness?  What  is  the  cause  of  the 
devastating  outbreaks?  Can  civilization  be  safe  if  they  con 
stantly  occur?  Must  a  nation  constantly  build  up  political 
authority  and  extend  its  dominion  if  it  would  be  great,  or  does 
greatness  come  from  the  spirit  and  from  character?  Is  war 
to  be  considered  always  as  possible  and  at  some  time  inevitable? 
Can  militant  national  spirit  be  reconciled  with  democracy? 
Must  men,  feeling  a  strong  natural  love  of  country,  strive  also  for 
friendliness  with  others?  How  is  America  to  support  and  build 
up  its  ideals, — giving  opportunity,  protecting  liberty,  encourag 
ing  individual  effort?  To  what  extent  was  and  is  preparation 
for  war  a  duty  or  a  necessity?  Probably  rational  and  sensible 
people  answered  those  questions  differently,  and  probably 
different  answers  would  be  given  to-day;  but  such  were  some  of 
the  thoughts  made  active  by  the  war. 

In  the  early  part  of  1915  the  German  government  entered 
upon  the  deliberate  use  of  the  submarine  against  enemy  mer 
chantmen.     The  waters  surrounding  the  British 
submarine.        Islands  were  declared  to  be  a  "war  zone,"  within 
which  enemy  vessels  were  to  be  sunk  without 
regard  to  the  safety  of  crews  or  passengers,  and  neutrals  were 


THE  WORLD  WAR 


569 


warned  that  the  same  fate  might  befall  them.1  Germany  thus 
prepared  to  carry  out  on  the  ocean  her  chosen  principle  of 
"frightfulness,"  which,  already  exhibited  in  Belgium  and  north 
ern  France,  had  awakened  the  sympathy  of  the  world  for  her 
enemies.  Such  a  course  was  entirely  contrary  to  the  most  ele 
mentary  principles  of  international  law.  The  ships  of  one  bel 
ligerent — one  of  the  powers  at  war — can  capture  and  send  into 
harbor  the  ships  of  another  belligerent.  Under  some  circum 
stances,  as,  for  example,  if  it  is  unseaworthy,  the  captured 
vessel  may  be  sunk,  but  even  then  the  lives  of  the  passengers 
and  crews  are  to  be  saved.  Neutral  vessels  may  be  searched  for 
contraband,  and  in  case  a  blockade  is  established  the  vessel 


A  GERMAN  SEA  RAIDER.    THE  SUBMARINE  "U-i4" 

itself  can  be  seized  if  it  is  attempting  to  run  the  blockade. 
Germany's  plan,  however,  contemplated  nothing  less  than  using 
submarines  to  sink  enemy  merchantmen  on  sight,  and  if  neutral 
ships  got  sunk  by  mistake,  they  must  take  the  consequences  of 
being  where  they  were  not  wanted.  Her  excuse  was  necessity; 
Great  Britain,  she  claimed,  had  set  up  an  unlawful  blockade  of 
her  coast,  and  as  a  submarine  could  not  follow  the  usual  and 


1  "Even  neutral  ships  are  exposed  to  danger  in  the  war  zone,  as  in  view 
of  the  misuse  of  neutral  flags  ordered  on  January  31  by  the  British 
Government  and  of  the  accidents  of  naval  warfare,  it  cannot  always  be  avoid 
ed  to  strike  even  neutral  ships  in  attacks  that  are  directed  at  enemy  ships." 


570  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

prescribed  practice,  the  thing  to  do  was  to  use  the  new  weapon 
ruthlessly  and  let  international  law  look  out  for  itself.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  the  barbarous  method  of  sea  warfare  which 
finally  brought  the  United  States  into  the  war.  If  there  was  to 
be  no  restraint  on  Germany  except  her  own  will,  if  such  principles 
of  warfare  were  to  prevail,  then  international  law  was  of  little 
or  no  consequence  and  the  effort  of  centuries  to  guard  the  rights 
of  neutrals  and  of  non-combatants  had  disappeared.1 

On  May  7,  1915,  the  British  ship  Lusitania,  on  her  way  from 
New  York  to  England  with  nearly  two  thousand  people  on  board, 

was  sunk  by  a  German  submarine  off  the  coast  of 
Lusitania.  Ireland.  Over  a  thousand  persons  were  drowned, 

including  nearly  four  hundred  women  and  children. 
Among  the  victims  were  124  American  citizens.  The  sinking 
was  deliberately  planned  and  carried  out  with  a  cold  cruelty 
that  makes  comment  needless  and  profitless.  It  stands  to-day, 
and  will  stand  for  centuries  unless  the  world  sink  into  barbarism, 
as  a  never-to-be-forgotten  crime,  one  that  is  conspicuous  even 
in  this  war  with  all  its  unexpected  horrors  and  all  its  awful 
losses.  President  Wilson  strongly  protested  to  Germany;  but 

1  Our  government  solemnly  warned  the  German  government  that,  if 
American  vessels  were  destroyed  or  the  lives  of  American  citizens  were  lost, 
we  should  be  "constrained  to  hold  the  Imperial  German  Government  to  a 
strict  accountability  .  .  .  and  to  take  any  steps  it  might  be  necessary  to 
take  to  safeguard  American  lives  and  property  and  to  secure  to  American 
citizens  the  full  enjoyment  of  their  acknowledged  rights  on  the  high  seas." 
The  mere  fact  that  Germany  had  found  in  the  submarine  a  weapon  which 
might  be  used  against  British  shipping  by  the  disregard  of  principles  of  law 
did  not,  of  course,  justify  such  a  use,  above  all  not  to  the  peril  and  destruc 
tion  of  innocent  neutrals.  The  declaration  of  the  French  government  was 
undoubtedly  sound:  "To  sink  a  captured  vessel  is  in  itself  a  questionable 
act,  to  which  recourse  can  be  had  only  under  extraordinary  circumstances 
and  after  measures  have  been  taken  to  assure  the  safety  of  all  the  crew 
and  passengers."  Our  government  carried  on  with  Great  Britain  corre 
spondence  concerning  the  way  in  which  that  country  used  its  power  on  the 
sea;  and  to  a  number  of  things  we  objected.  But  as  to  this  it  may  be  said, 
first  that  Great  Britain  answered  our  objections  very  ably  and  we  cannot 
now  say  that  beyond  question  she  was  wrong;  and  second,  if  she  was 
technically  wrong  in  some  of  her  positions,  she  did  not  threaten  or  destroy 
human  life  but  only  property,  which  could  be  paid  for.  It  was  well  said  in 
Congress  that  there  was  much  difference  between  a  prize  court  arid  a  torpedo. 


THE  WORLD  WAR 


571 


did  not  yet  advise  America's  taking  up  arms;  and,  indeed, 
though  opinions  may  well  differ,  it  is  doubtful  if  even  then  the 
American  people,  though  amazed  at  the  cruelty  of  the  deed  and 
full  of  indignation,  were  ready  to  enter  the  war. 


THE  STEAM  SHIP  LUSITANIA  LEAVING  PORT  WITH  HER  HUMAN 
FREIGHT  ON  HER  LAST  VOYAGE 

Our  government  used  every  possible  means  by  argument 
and  expostulation  to  preserve  peace — if  peace  it  could  be  called, 
Protests  when  our  citizens  going  about  their  lawful  business 

were  deliberately  drowned  at  sea.  We  learned 
little  by  little  that  nothing  but  a  thorough  beating — no  argu 
ment,  no  appeal  to  human  compassion — could  curb  the  deter 
mination  of  German  rulers  to  have  their  way.  The  President 
wrote  sternly:  "Manifestly  submarines  cannot  be  used  against 
merchantmen,  as  the  last  few  weeks  have  shown,  without  an 
inevitable  violation  of  many  sacred  principles  of  justice  and 
humanity."  He  warned  the  imperial  government  that  we  would 
not  omit  any  "word  or  any  act"  necessary  to  the  performance 
of  our  sacred  duty  of  maintaining  the  rights  of  American  citizens. 


572  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Insult  and  wrong  were  heaped  on  renewed  injury  and  insult 
before  American  patience  was  exhausted  and  we  discovered  that 
we  must  fight  to  preserve  the  semblance  of  honor  and  right  which 
were  assaulted  by  a  government  utterly  devoid  of  both. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  recall  the  series  of  tragedies  on  the 
sea,  as  Germany  carried  on  her  ruthless  warfare  month  by  month. 

There  were  times  of  comparative  respite,  when 
intrigues.  American  life  and  property  were  not  seriously 

affected  and  when  there  seemed  some  hope  that  we 
might  avoid  war;  but  it  was  not  to  be.1  As  the  months  passed, 
causes  for  enmity  to  Germany  multiplied.  The  everyday  Amer 
ican  citizen  found  that  the  land  was  beset  with  spies  and  agents 
of  violence,  and  he  deeply  resented  their  intrusion.  We  now 
know  that  our  suspicions  and  our  resentment  were  more  than 
justified.  This  whole  cunning  spy  system,  the  attempts  to  blow 
up  ships  sailing  for  England  from  American  harbors,  the  plots  to 
cause  strikes  in  factories,  the  secret  use  of  money  to  affect  in 
one  way  and  another  the  public  opinion,  of  the  country,2  were 
peculiarly  obnoxious  to  people  who  had  been  trying  to  live  their 
own  lives  and  had  done  no  wrong.  "Men  began  to  look  upon 
their  own  neighbors  with  suspicion  and  to  wonder  in  their  hot 
resentment  and  surprise  whether  there  was  any  community  in 


1  "The  break  would  have  come  sooner  if  our  government  had  not  been 
restrained  by  the  hope  that  saner  counsels  might  still  prevail  in  Germany. 
.  .  .  And  the  pressure  of  a  faction  of  German  public  opinion  less  hostile 
to  this  country  was  shown  when  their  government  acquiesced  to  some  degree 
in  our  demands,  at  the  time  of  the  Sussex  outrage  [1916],  and  for  nearly  a 
year  maintained  at  least  a  pretense  of  observing  the  pledge  they  made  to  us." 
How  the  War  Came  to  America  (published  by  the  Committee  on  Public 
Information,  Washington,  June,  1917).    The  pledge  referred  to  was  a  prom 
ise  not  to  sink  merchantmen  without  warning  and  saving  lives  of  the  people 
on  board. 

2  The  most  irritating  revelation  was  the  discovery,  when  we  were  on  the 
very  verge  of  war,  that  the  German  government  directed  their  minister  in 
Mexico  to  bring  about  an  alliance  with  Mexico  and  Japan  for  the  purpose 
of  attacking  the  United  States  (February,  1917),  in  case  the  United  States 
should  not  put  up  with  the  drowning  of  her  citizens  at  sea.     See  among 
other  materials,  E.  E.  Sperry  and  A.  M.  West,  German  Plots  and  Intrigues, 
(Committee  on  Public  Information,  Red,  White  and  Blue  Series,  No.  10). 


THE  WORLD  WAR  573 

which  hostile  intrigue  did  not  lurk."  1  The  whole  story  of  sly 
intrigue  was  revolting  and  made  men  realize  the  poisonous 
character  of  a  conscienceless  government  that  was  prepared 
not  only  to  use  force  in  support  of  its  ambitions,  but  to  rely  on 
intrigue  and  deceit.2 

As  the  months  went  by  the  war  widened  in  its  scope  and  in 
the  number  of  its  participants.  Germany  and  Austria  were 
joined  by  Turkey  and  Bulgaria.  Italy  and  Japan  were  added 
to  the  number  of  Germany's  enemies.  The  war  seemed  to  be 
sweeping  the  whole  world  into  its  vortex.  Battles  were  fought 
in  Western  Asia,  in  Mesopotamia,  in  Southwest  and  East  Africa, 
as  well  as  Serbia,  Poland  and  northern  France.  The  fleets  of 
Great  Britain  defeated  such  German  ships  as  could  be  found, 
and  penned  up  the  rest  in  the  German  harbors.  British  ships 
tried  to  pass  the  Dardanelles  and,  when  they  failed,  troops  were 
landed  at  Gallipoli  to  suffer  terribly  in  an  attempt  at  a  land 
attack  upon  the  Turkish  armies.  Raids  by  German  airships 
over  London  wrought  some  material  damage  and  took  the  lives 
of  non-combatant  people.  Every  day  seemed  to  add  to  the  fury, 
the  vehemence  and  the  horror  of  the  struggle. 

Even  before  the  final  steps  were  taken  and  we  made  up  our 

minds  that  America  must  enter  the  war,  thoughtful  men  realized 

the  danger  to  unsuspecting  democracy  and  free 

Democracy         government  if  it  must  live  in  a  world  of  intrigue 

opposed  to  '  .   .  6 

stealth.  and  suspicion.     For  democracy,  if  it  remains  de 

mocracy,  must  live  in  the  open  and  be  friendly  and 
open-minded.  We  could,  it  appeared,  rely  on  the  frankness  of 
the  democracies  of  Europe  that  were  fighting  in  a  death  grapple 
with  the  malignant  power  of  German  militarism.  But  if  Ger 
many  prevailed  and  her  military  masters  could  point  to  con 
quests  and  loot  as  the  outcome  of  the  war  so  carefully  planned 
and  so  cruelly  conductepl,  the  world  even  for  us  must  be  a  world 
of  armed  might  and  secret  plotting.  Our  place  was  by  the  side 

1  President  Wilson's  Flag  Day  Address,  p.  4. 

2  "The  Prussian  autocracy,"  said  President  Wilson,   "has  filled  our 
unsuspecting  communities  and  even  our  offices  of  government  with  spies, 
and  set  criminal  intrigues  everywhere  afoot  against  our  national  unity  of 
counsel,  our  peace  within  and  without,  our  industries,  and  our  commerce." 


574  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

of  Germany's  enemies,  because  they  were  the  enemies  of  a  vicious 
and  destructive  system  and  an  unmoral  idea.1 

While  the  war  was  at  its  height  and  public  attention  was 

largely  taken  up  with  watching  its  fluctuations  and  considering 

our  responsibilities,  the  presidential  campaign  of 

Presidential  I^1^  CamC  °n'      ^  WaS  a  foregone  Conclusion  that 

Campaign,         Mr.  Wilson  would  be  renominated  by  his  party, 
1916.  but  the  choice  of  the  Republicans  was  a  matter  of 

much  uncertainty.  No  one  knew  whether  the 
Progressives,  who  had  cast  so  many  votes  four  years  before, 
would  continue  as  a  third  party.  Mr.  Roosevelt  was  still  so 
distinctly  the  leader  of  the  party,  and  so  much  depended  upon 
him,  that  his  decision  was  of  unusual  importance.  If  both  the 
Republicans  and  the  Progressives  should  put  candidates  into 
the  field,  the  defeat  of  both  would  be  inevitable.  The  conven 
tions  of  the  two  parties  met  simultaneously  in  Chicago;  but  they 
did  not  succeed  in  amalgamating  at  once.  The  Republicans 
nominated  Justice  Charles  E.  Hughes  and  Mr.  Charles  W. 
Fairbanks,  who  had  been  Vice-President  some  years  previously. 
The  Progressives  chose  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  Mr.  John  M. 
Parker;  but  Mr.  Roosevelt  declined  to  accept  the  nomination 
and  advocated  the  election  of  Hughes.  Not  all  Progressives 
were  reconciled  to  this  step,  but  though  there  were  some  persons 
who  endeavored  to  keep  the  party  alive,  most  of  its  number 
found  themselves  in  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  older  parties 
as  the  campaign  went  on. 

The  Republican  platform  called  for  "protection  of  all  Amer 
ican  rights  at  home  and  abroad,  by  land  and  sea,"  "a  strict 

and  honest  neutrality,"  "the  pacific  settlement  of 
platform!*11  international  disputes  and  the  establishing  of  a 

world  court  for  that  purpose";  it  denounced  the 
"indefensible"  Mexican  policy  of  the  acjmimstration,  the  Demo- 

^or  further  study  see  How  the  War  Came  to  America  (Committee  on 
Public  Information,  Washington,  D.  C.);  The  War  Message  and  the  Facts 
behind  It  (Committee  on  Public  Information);  The  President's  Flag  Day 
Speech  (Committee  on  Public  Information);  A.  C.  McLaughlin,  Sixteen 
Causes  of  War  (Chicago,  1918);  C.  L.  Speed,  Why  We  Fight  (Union  League 
Club,  Chicago);  C.  Gauss,  Why  We  Went  to  War  (N.  Y.  1918):  A.  B.  Hart 
America  at  War  (N.  Y.,  1918). 


THE  WORLD  WAR  575 

cratic  tariff  measures,  and  approved  the  maintenance  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  "preparedness  for  complete  national  defense," 
and  a  "tariff  protection." 

Mr.  Wilson  and  Mr.  Marshall  were  renominated  by  the 
Democrats.  The  platform  proposed  a  tariff  "adequate  for  reve 
nue  under  peace  conditions,  fair  to  the  consumer 
and  to  the  producer,"  and  adjustment  of  burdens 
of  taxation  "so  that  swollen  incomes  bear  their 
equitable  share";  it  advocated  various  measures  of  social  and 
industrial  reform  and  "the  maintenance  of  an  army  adequate 
for  the  requirements  of  order,  of  safety,  and  of  protection  of  the 
nation's  rights,"  and  "the  continuous  development  of  a  navy 
.  .  .  fully  equal  to  the  international  tasks  which  the  United 
States  hopes  and  expects  to  take  a  part  in  performing."  An 
nouncing  the  conviction  that  the  small  states  of  the  world  have 
the  same  rights  to  territorial  integrity  and  sovereignty  as  the 
more  powerful  nations  and  that  the  world  has  a  right  to  be  free 
from  every  disturbance  of  its  peace  that  has  its  origin  in  aggres 
sion,  the  platform  declared,  "  We  believe  the  time  has  come  when 
it  is  the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  join  with  the  other  nations 
of  the  world  in  any  feasible  association  that  will  effectively  serve 
these  principles,  to  maintain  inviolate  the  complete  security  of 
the  highway  of  the  seas  for  the  common  and  unhindered  use  of 
all  nations." 

In  the  discussions  of  the  campaign,  this  last  assertion,  the 
idea  of  a  league  or  association  of  nations,  a  topic  which  later 
The  proved  of  transcendent  importance,  did  not  occupy 

campaign  much  attention.  Mr.  Hughes  in  his  speech  of  accep- 

andthe  tance  committed  himself  to  a  programme  not,  it 

war'  would  seem,  essentially  different  from  that  of  a 

"feasible  association"  mentioned  in  the  Democratic  platform; 
he  spoke  of  the  desirability  of  an  international  organization  for 
international  justice  and  of  the  desirability  of  international 
tribunals.  But  such  matters  received  no  thoroughgoing  treat 
ment  in  campaign  speeches  on  either  side.  Neither  was  there 
as  much  discussion  of  the  responsibilities  arising  from  the  war 
as  one  would  now  suppose  there  would  have  been.  Conditions 
were  still  critical;  the  American  government,  after  the  sinking 


576  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

of  the  Sussex,  had  very  explicitly  protested  against  such  offenses 
and  definitely  declared  that  diplomatic  relations  must  be  broken 
unless  Germany  "declare  and  effect  an  abandonment  of  its 
present  methods  of  submarine  warfare"  against  passenger  and 
freight  -  carrying  vessels,  and  had  secured  a  pledge  from  Ger 
many.  •  But  there  was  no  assurance  that  new  difficulties  would 
not  arise.  The  position  of  our  government  was  fairly  clear,  and 
we  cannot  now  see  that,  unless  there  were  cowardly  retreat,  we 
could  keep  out  of  the  war  if  Germany  did  not  heed  our  warn 
ings.  Some  persons,  however,  thought  the  President  had  in 
dulged  too  much  in  mere  note  writing,  and  ought  to  act.  Others, 
his  supporters,  declared  he  had  kept  the  country  out  of  war  and 
should  be  reelected  on  that  ground.  No  one  can  say  how 
much  the  war  or  the  issue  with  Germany  affected  the  election, 
and  perhaps  the  most  careful  students  of  history  never  will  know. 
There  had  been  much  serious  consideration  on  the  matter  of 
"preparedness"  of  the  extent  and  the  make-up  of  the  military 
Pre  edness  ^orces5  but  ^  *s  doubtful  if  differences  on  this  sub 
ject  were  really  vital  in  the  campaign.  If  the 
administration  was  charged  with  weakness  and  unreadiness 
to  meet  the  coming  of  war,  the  Democrats,  on  the  other  hand, 
could  point  to  the  fact  that  the  President  had  advocated  in 
1915  substantial  increase  in  national  defense  and  that  in  the 
course  of  the  year  the  Defense  Act  had  provided  for  a  material 
increase  in  the  army  and  navy.  Such  matters  we  cannot,  cer 
tainly  now,  pass  historical  judgment  upon. 

Mr.  Wilson  was  reelected  by  a  small  electoral  majority.   He 
lost  New  York,on whose  vote  the  result  of  election  is  likely  to  turn, 
but  he  carried  Ohio  with  its  twenty-four  electoral 
success.  votes,  California  with  its  thirteen  votes,  and  a 

large  number  of  trans-Mississippi  states.  More 
over,  the  popular  vote  showed  that  the  Democratic  president 
was  no  longer  a  minority  president;  his  vote  was  larger  by 
half  a  million  than  that  received  by  Mr.  Hughes.  The  Socialist 
party  cast  nearly  600,000  votes.  The  Progressive  vote  appears 
to  have  gone  in  considerable  degree  to  support  Wilson  in  Ohio 
and  the  Western  states.1 

1  Wilson,  277  electoral  votes,  Hughes,  254.    Wilson,  9,128,873  popular 


THE  WORLD  WAR  577 

On  the  last  day  of  January,  1917,  the  German  ambassador 
in  Washington  informed  our  government  that  .Germany  intended 

to  begin  a  ruthless  submarine  campaign  and  sink 
declared.  without  warning  any  vessel  entering  a  barred  zone 

inclosing  nearly  the  whole  coast  of  Europe.1  The 
German  government  had,  after  the  sinking  of  the  Sussex  in  the 
spring  of  1916,  given  certain  pledges  about  warning  ships  and 
saving  passengers,  but  now  Germany  prepared  to  strike  out 
blindly.  The  British  navy  had  her  by  the  throat  and  she  was 
ready  to  fling  aside  all  restraint  without  respect  to  neutral 
rights  and  the  lives  of  neutral  citizens.  She  defied  the  world 
and  above  all  America.  Soon  after  this  notice  was  given,  Count 
von  Bernstorff  was  handed  his  passports  and  diplomatic  rela 
tions  with  Germany  were  broken.  The  threat  to  use  the  U-boats 
without  restraint  was  immediately  carried  out,  a  number  of 
American  lives  were  lost,  and  on  April  2,  1917,  the  President 
appeared  before  Congress  and  asked  for  a  declaration  of  war. 
Four  days  later  a  joint  resolution  was  passed  announcing 
"  That  the  state  of  war  between  the  United  States  and  the  Im 
perial  German  Government,  which  has  thus  been  thrust  upon 
the  United  States  is  hereby  formally  declared."2  There  was 
never  a  better  illustration  of  the  old  saying  that  whom  the  gods 
would  destroy  they  first  make  mad;  for  nothing  but  madness 
could  explain  the  conduct  of  Germany's  masters,  who  drove  the 
richest  and  potentially  the  most  powerful  nation  in  the  world 
to  fight  with  the  allied  nations  against  German  might. 


vote,  Hughes,  8,556,380,  Benson,  Socialist,  590,415.  Progressive  vote, 
42,836.  "It  is  said  that  a  new  sectionalism  has  appeared.  The  South,  the 
West,  the  Pacific  Coast  states  and  Ohio  constitute  a  new  and  significant 
combination  against  the  East  and  the  North."  Professor  J.  A.  Woodburn 
in  American  Year  Book  for  1916,  p.  44.  Professor  Woodburn  does  not  be 
lieve,  however,  that  such  a  new  sectionalism  actually  exists.  "There  was 
no  sectionalism  in  the  popular  vote  outside  of  the  South.  It  was  the  candi 
dates  and  the  issues,  not  sectional  interest,  that  determined  the  voting." 
Of  course  the  South  has  been  and  remains  traditionally  Democratic. 

1  Certain  privileges  promised  to  an  occasional  American  ship,  marked  in 
some  bizarre  fashion  and  pursuing  a  certain  narrow  route,  may  be  passed 
over  without  comment  as  a  mixture  of  crude  humor  and  quaint  insult. 

2  We  declared  war  against  Austria  in  December,  1917.  \ 


578 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


No  few  words  can  properly  give  our  reasons  for  entering  the 
war  against  Germany,  but  they  may  be  briefly  summed  up, 
though  not  adequately,  as  follows:  (i)  Knowledge 
that  Germany  ruthlessly  began  the  war  and  we 
did  not  believe  the  United  States  or  the  world  at 
large  was  safe  in  the  presence  of  such  a  power  if  it  succeeded; 
(2)  a  belief — and  doubtless  a  well-grounded  belief — that  Ger- 


Summary 
of  causes. 


PRESIDENT  WILSON  AND  HIS  WAR  CABINET 

many  if  successful  would  sooner  or  later,  possibly  sooner,  turn 
upon  us;  (3)  indignation  at  Germany's  methods  in  bombarding 
undefended  towns,  dropping  bombs  from  the  skies  on  sleeping 
towns  and  hamlets,  and  the  invention  of  new  barbarities,  such 
as  poisonous  gas;  (4)  opposition  to  Germany's  disregard  of  inter 
national  law;  (5)  the  resentment  over  the  outrages  in  Belgium; 
(6)  appreciation  of  the  zeal  of  German  extremists  to  be  a  world- 
power  basing  her  claims  and  possessions  on  might  alone,  a  con 
tinuing  menace  to  a  peaceful  world;  (7)  recognition  of  the  fact 
that  the  wrong  of  drowning  our  people  at  sea  could  not  be 
tolerated;  (8)  feeling  that  democratic  institutions  were  endan 
gered  by  intrigue  and  would  be  unsafe  if  military  autocracy  and 
deceit  succeeded;  (9)  a  realization  that  two  fundamentally 


THE  WORLD  WAR 


579 


opposed  principles  of  life,  the  principle  of  autocracy  and  the 
principle  of  democracy,  were  now  in  conflict  and  that  America 
must  stand  by  the  side  of  the  embattled  and  harassed  democra 
cies  of  Britain  and  France  and  save  her  own  institutions.1 


AN  AMERICAN  MADE  DE  HAVILAND  "4"  LIBERTY  MOTORED  AIRPLANE 
Used  by  American  Aviators  in  flying  over  the  lines  in  France 

At  once  and  with  no  misgiving,  now  that  the  summons  had 
come,  America  prepared  to  fight.  Ships  of  war  crossed  the 
Atlantic  to  battle  the  submarine,  and  ere  long  'a 
small  army  was  sent  to  France.  The  great  task, 
however,  was  to  raise  troops  by  the  million  and 
prepare  officers  for  commanding  them.  For  this  latter  purpose, 
officers'  training  camps  were  established,  the  first  opening  on 
May  15  with  about  40,000  men  enrolled.  So  eager  were  the 
applicants  for  commissions,  so  hardworking  and  capable,  that 
in  the  course  of  three  months  thousands  of  young  trustworthy 

1  President  Wilson  said,  "The  world  must  be  made  safe  for  democracy. 
Its  peace  must  be  planted  upon  the  tested  foundations  of  political  liberty. 
We  have  no  selfish  ends  to  serve.  We  desire  no  conquest,  no  dominion. 
We  seek  no  indemnities  for  ourselves,  no  material  compensation  for  the 
sacrifices  we  shall  freely  make.  We  are  but  one  of  the  champions  of  the 
rights  of  mankind." 


580  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

men  were  fitted  to  take  up  the  burdensome  and  unaccustomed 
duties  of  military  command.  Many  thousands  of  volunteers 
were  taken  into  the  service  as  privates,  but  it  seemed  unwise  to 
fight  the  war  with  only  volunteers;  a  selective  draft  or  a  selec 
tive  choice  appeared  to  be  the  just  and  sensible  basis  for  the  new 
army.  In  May  the  selective  service  or  draft  act  was  passed,  and 
before  the  end  of  the  summer  vast  camps  were  established  and 
filled  with  men.  Some  troops  were  sent  in  1917,  but  it  was  not 
till  the  spring  and  summer  of  1918  that  they  began  to  pour  across 
the  Atlantic  by  the  hundred  thousand.  Germany  had  thought 
that  we  could  not  raise  an  army;  that,  if  we  did,  it  could  not  be 
transported;  and  that,  if  it  were,  it  would  not  know  how  to  fight. 
She  was  mistaken. 

The  situation  in  the  early  part  of  1918  was  exceedingly 
grave.     America  was  just  beginning  to  send  troops  in  large 

numbers  and  there  was  no  assurance  that  they 

could  be  carried  across  in  time  to  stop  Germany, 
I£>Ig>  who  was  putting  forth  herculean  efforts  to  win.  In 

Russia  there  had  been  a  revolution  in  1917,  the 
Czar  had  been  overthrown,  and  it  appeared  to  the  Allies  that  the 
Russian  people  after  setting  up  their  new  government  would 
fight  more  determinedly  than  ever  for  the  cause  of  democracy 
and  a  sound  peace.  But  the  rise  of  the  Bolsheviki  dashed  such 
hopes,  for  the  nation  became  almost  chaotic,  and  the  leaders 
entered  into  a  shameful  peace  with  Germany  and  Austria. 
In  March,  1918,  the  German  troops  on  the  western  front  began 
a  series  of  terrific  drives  toward  Paris  against  the  allied  lines 
where  they  hoped  to  cut  them  in  two.  We  now  see  that  these 
onslaughts  were  the  product  of  desperation,  if  not  despair; 
but  for  a  time  they  met  with  considerable  success,  and,  though 
the  allied  armies  were  not  crushed  or  overwhelmed,  the  Germans 
made  dangerous  gains. 

All  of  the  allied  armies  were  placed  under  the  command  of 
General  Foch.    The  Americans  under  General  Pershing,  already 

cooperating  with  the  other  armies,  were  preparing 
American  to  enter  mto  the  fighting  in  large  numbers.  In 

France.  July  at  Chateau -Thierry  the  American  forces  did 

valiant  work  in  helping  to  stem  one  of  these  drives 
which,  if  it  had  carried  the  Germans  much  further,  would  have 


FIELD  MARSHAL 

SIR  DOUGLAS   HAIG 

Commanding  the 

English  Armies 

(below} 


FIELD  MARSHAL 

FERDINAND  FOCH 

Commander-in-Chief 

of  all  the  Allied 

Armies. 

deft) 


GENERAL 

JOHN  J.  PERSHING 
Commander-  i  n-  Ch  ie  f 
American  Expedi 
tionary  Forces 
(right) 


GENERAL 

ARMANDO  DIAZ 

Commanding  the 

Italian  Armies 

(above) 


582 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


placed  them  at  the  gates  of  Paris.  After  this  repulse  the  Ger 
mans  could  hold  no  longer.  Little  by  little,  step  by  step,  they 
were  forced  back;  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  end.  Then  came 
an  American  victory  at  St.  Mihiel,  and  fierce,  continuous,  awful 
struggle  in  the  Argonne  and  at  the  Meuse — names  which  will 
always  be  words  of  honor  in  American  history.  Nothing  could 
exceed  the  dash  and  zeal  and  the  courage  with  which  these 
untried  Americans  fought  on  the  soil  of  France  for  honor  and  a 
world  of  justice.  America's  soldiers,  fighting  by  the  side  of  the 


A  FRENCH  TANK  CROSSING  No  MAN'S  LAND 

heroic  warriors  of  Britain  and  France,  helped  to  turn  the  tide 
and  did  a  noble  part  in  defeating  the  forces  whose  cruel  and 
merciless  leaders  had  plunged  the  world  into  the  horrible  agony 
of  conflict.1  November  n,  1918,  ancarmistice  was  signed,  by 

1This  war  with  its  gas,  and  airplane  bombardments,  and  tanks,  and 
submarines,  and  poisons,  and  filthy  trenches,  and  dirt,  and  mud,  and  star 
vation  (starvation  chiefly  for  those  that  did  not  fight) — with  its  vast  expense 
(something  like  two  hundred  billions  of  dollars),  with  its  awful  loss  of  life 
among  the  most  gifted  and  the  most  brave,  with  its  millions  of  mutilated 


THE  WORLD  WAR  583 

the  terms  of  which  Germany  was  practically  placed  at  the  mercy 
of  the  Allies.  Her  vaunted  strength  was  gone,  wasted  in  a  ter 
rific  conflict  in  which  she  had  hoped  to  see  the  world  at  her  feet. 
The  Kaiser  fled  to  Holland,  the  government  passing  into  the 
hands  of  moderate  Socialist  leaders;  the  emperor  of  Austria 
abdicated;  the  German  and  Austrian  people  cried  aloud  for 
bread. 

The  world  was  at  peace  or  near  peace,  but  what  a  peace! 
A  peace  of  desolation  for  much  of  France,  a  peace  of  misery  for 
Peace!  Germany,  a  peace  which  sees  the  nations  loaded 

with  debt  and  sorrow;  and  still,  let  us  hope,  a 
peace  which  will  beget  peace  and  foster  a  better,  a  less  fretful, 
a  more  human  civilization,  a  peace  uninterrupted  by  the  menace 
of  brutality. 

In  the  course  of  the  conflict,  the  President  of  the  United 

States  had  laid  down  a  series  of  general  principles  in  which  there 

appeared   to   be  general   acquiescence,   not  only 

The  Fourteen  Al         A  .  ,        ,  , 

Terms.  among  the  American  people,  but  even — perhaps 

more  markedly — in  the  hearts  of  the  peoples  of 
Europe  beyond  the  confines  of  Germany;  indeed,  the  announce 
ment  of  these  principles  may  have  affected  the  temper  of  Ger 
mans  and  Austrians  also;  for  they  were  on  the  whole  but  the 
principles  of  clear  justice.  Most  famous  of  these  utterances  of 
the  American  President  were  the  so-called  "fourteen  terms  of 
peace,"  what  he  called  "the  programme  of  the  world's  peace." 
(i)  Open  covenants  of  peace  openly  arrived  at.  (2)  Freedom  of 
navigation  on  the  seas.  (3)  Removal  as  far  as  possible  of  eco 
nomic  barriers.  (4)  Adequate  guaranties  for  reduction  of  arma 
ments.  (5)  Impartial  adjustment  of  colonial  claims.  (6) 
Evacuation  of  Russian  territory  and  unhampered  opportunity 
for  Russian  development.  (7)  The  evacuation  and  restoration 

and  crippled  humans,  will  probably  not  soon  be  considered  as  a  time  of  glory 
alone;  but  history  books  in  the  past  have  too  often  been  content  with  omit 
ting  the  tale  of  suffering  and  want  and  the  woe  handed  down  for  decades 
after  strife;  and  these  we  should,  as  honest  students  of  history,  seek  to 
know  and  remember,  and  not  simply  to  admire  the  thrilling  stories  of 
courage.  Of  courage  there  was  never  so  much  before;  of  noble  readiness  to 
serve  and  die  there  certainly  was  never  more  before;  of  suffering  and  toil 
and  agony  there  was  never  so  much  before. 


584  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

of  Belgium.  (8)  Freeing  of  French  territory  and  restoration  of 
invaded  portions;  the  righting  of  the  wrong  done  to  France 
in  1871  in  the  matter  of  Alsace-Lorraine.  (9)  A  readjustment  of 
the  frontiers  of  Italy  in  accord  with  lines  of  nationality.  (10) 
Autonomous  rights  for  the  various  peoples  of  Austria-Hungary. 
(This  was  afterwards  modified  because  of  the  successful  revolt 
of  Bohemia,  which  made  mere  autonomy  insufficient  and  inde 
pendence  necessary.)  (n)  Readjustments  in  the  Balkans; 
restoration,  free  access  to  the  sea  for  Serbia.  (12)  The  Dar 
danelles  must  be  a  free  passage;  freedom  for  the  oppressed 
nationalities  under  Turkish  rule.  (13)  An  independent  Polish 
state.  (14)  A  general  association  of  nations  for  the  purpose  of 
affording  mutual  guaranties  of  political  independence  and  terri 
torial  integrity  to  great  and  small  states  alike.  We  had  come 

to  see  that  peace  and  the  permanence  of  a  develop- 
justice  and  ing  civilization  demanded  the  recognition  of  sub- 
a  real  peace.  stantial  justice  in  world  affairs;  America  could 

not  stand  alone  untouched  by  the  disorder  or 
the  uneasiness  of  the  rest  of  mankind;  if  a  selfish  and  grasping 
government  in  Germany  were  overthrown,  that  was  a  long  step 
forward  and  furnished  ground  for  expectation  that  a  peace 
founded  on  the  needs  and  desires  of  people  might  be  obtained 
and  might  be  made  secure.  But  we  had  been  drawn  against  our 
will  and  our  traditions  into  a  European  conflict,  and  we  had  the 
right  to  ask  that  the  affairs  of  Europe  be  arranged  with  respect 
for  the  principles  of  right  and  reason. 

Those  who  had  suffered  the  unspeakable  cruelty  of  an 
unspeakably  cruel  and  devastating  war  turned  to  the  conference 

of  the  victors  at  Paris,  hoping  that  out  of  delibera- 
conference.  tions,  buttressed  by  the  determination  and  the 

good-will  of  mankind,  would  come  a  new  and  a 
better  condition  of  the  world.  To  the  peace  conference,  which 
met  at  Paris,  President  Wilson  himself  went  to  represent  the 
United  States.  With  him  were  Secretary  of  State  Lansing, 
E.  M.  House  and  Henry  White.  Among  the  representatives 
from  other  countries  were  Lloyd  George  and  Arthur  Balfour 
from  Great  Britain,  M.  Clemenceau  from  France,  and  Premier 
Orlando  from  Italy.  On  February  14,  1919,  the  conference 


THE  WORLD  WAR  585 

received  a  plan  for  a  League  of  Nations.  At  the  end  of  April, 
an  amended  plan  was  put  forth  containing  various  modifica 
tions,  most  of  them  called  for  by  specific  criticisms  in  America 
of  the  original  plan.  This  the  peace  conference  adopted  on 
April  28,  1919. 

The  Peace  Treaty,  presented  to  the  German  delegates 
(May,  1919)  is  an  elaborate  document  which  can  be  but  im 
perfectly  summarized  here.  It  provides  for  a  League 
The  Peace  of  Nations,  composed  of  some  twenty-seven  nations, 
Treaty.  no^  including  Russia  or  Germany  and  the  nations 
associated  with  her  in  the  war.  While  the  main 
object  of  the  League  is  to  prevent  war,  it  is  assigned  duties 
arising  from  the  provisions  of  the  treaty.  Alsace-Lorraine, 
taken  from  France  in  1871,  is  returned  to  her,  and  she  is  also 
given  as  payment  on  account  and  because  her  own  mines  were 
wantonly  destroyed,  the  coal  mines  of  the  Saar  Valley,  the 
region  itself  to  be  governed  temporarily  by  the  League  and 
to  be  later  restored  to  Germany  if  the  people  so  elect.  Pro 
vision  is  made  for  payment  of  damages  to  civilian  property 
and  also  for  the  replacement  of  sunken  ships.  German  naval 
and  military  establishments  must  be  greatly  reduced  and  the 
independence  of  Poland  and  Czecho-Slovakia  is  acknowledged. 
Former  colonies  of  the  empire  are  taken  away  and  entrusted 
to  the  League.  Holland  is  to  be  asked  to  give  up  the  person 
of  the  former  emperor  and  he  is  to  be  publicly  arraigned  that 
he  maybe  tried  on  the  charge  of  "a  supreme  offense  against 
international  morality  and  the  sanctity  of  treaties." 

It  is  probable  that  no  one  in  Germany  now  believes  that 
warfare  is  a  paying  enterprise.  But  all  her  humiliation  and 
all  promises  of  financial  reparation  will  not  banish  the  woe 
brought  upon  millions  and  millions  of  people  by  the  horrible 
calamity  of  the  war.  The  only  payment  must  be  in  the  hope 
of  a  lasting  peace  and  a  better  civilization. 

At  the  end  of  the  great  conflict,  one  fact  stands  out  promi 
nently  amid  all  the  confusion  and  perplexity.  Autocracy  and 
irresponsible  monarchical  government  are  gone  and  seem  to  be 
gone  for  good.  In  1776  the  American  people,  few  in  number, 
building  themselves  up  into  a  new  nation  on  the  edge  of  a  conti- 


586  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

nent,  appealed  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  to  the  "opin 
ion  of  Mankind,"  and  announced  that  governments  obtain 
their  "just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed."  Little 
by  little  the  old  aristocratic  England  with  whom  the  colonists 
had  fought  for  independence  became  a  democracy,  with  a  gov 
ernment,  though  headed  nominally  by  a  king,  responsible  to  the 
word  of  the  people.  France  in  the  seventies  established  a  repub 
lic.  Italy  became  united  and  founded  also  a  responsible  govern 
ment.  Thus  the  great  changes  went  on.  Before  the  end  of  the 
great  war,  the  Romanoffs  of  Russia,  the  Hapsburgs  of  Austria, 
the  Hohenzollerns  of  Germany,  had  been  swept  from  their 
thrones.  In  looking  out  upon  the  world  to-day,  America  must 
feel  the  responsibilities  of  its  position.  America,  it  would  seem, 
must  do  its  wholesome  part  in  making  for  a  world  of  justice, 
right  and  honor  on  the  basis  of  consent  of  the  governed.  Wheth 
er  we  assume  new  and  burdensome  international  responsibilities 
of  a  formal  character  or  not,  we  must  face  the  responsibility  of 
being  an  old  established  democratic  nation  and  walk  steadily 
and  hopefully  with  our  burdens  and  our  duties.  We  are  no  longer 
a  mere  thread  of  people  on  the  margin  of  a  continent  but  a  tried 
democracy  with  a  great  territory  and  a  numerous  people. 


APPENDIX 


38 


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viii  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

CONSTITUTION 

OF  THE 

UNITED    STATES    OF    AMERICA 


WE,  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  to  form  a  more 
perfect  union,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  pro 
vide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and 
secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do 
ordain  and  establish  this  CONSTITUTION  for  the  United  States  of 
America. 

ARTICLE  I 

SECT.  1.  All  legislative  powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested  in 
a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and 
a  House  of  Representatives. 

SECT.  2.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed  of 
members  chosen  every  second  year  by  the  people  of  the  several 
States,  and  the  electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the  qualifications 
requisite  for  electors  of  the  most  numerous  branch  of  the  State 
Legislature. 

No  person  shall  be  a  Representative  who  shall  not  have  attained 
to  the  age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  been  seven  years  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhab 
itant  of  that  State  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

Representatives  and  direct  taxes  shall  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  States  which  may  be  included  within  this  Union,  according 
to  their  respective  numbers,  which  shall  be  determined  by  adding 
to  the  whole  number  of  free  persons,  including  those  bound  to  serv 
ice  for  a  term  of  years,  and  excluding  Indians  not  taxed,  three-fifths 
of  all  other  persons.  The  actual  enumeration  shall  be  made  within 
three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  and  within  every  subsequent  term  of  ten  years,  in  such  man 
ner  as  they  shall  by  law  direct.  The  number  of  Representatives 
shall  not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty  thousand,  but  each  State  shall 
have  at  least  one  Representative;  and  until  such  enumeration  shall 
be  made,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to  choose 
three,  Massachusetts  eight,  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Planta- 


APPENDIX  ix 

tions  one,  Connecticut  five,  New  York  six,  New  Jersey  four,  Penn 
sylvania  eight,  Delaware  one,  Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten,  North 
Carolina  five,  South  Carolina  five,  and  Georgia  three. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  from  any  State, 
the  Executive  authority  thereof  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to  fill 
such  vacancies. 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  choose  their  Speaker  and 
other  officers;  and  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  impeachment. 

SECT.  3.  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of 
two  Senators  from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legislature  thereof, 
for  six  years;  and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote. 

Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  consequence  of  the 
first  election,  they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be  into  three 
classes.  The  seats  of  the  Senators  of  the  first  class  shall  be  vacated 
at  the  expiration  of  the  second  year,  of  the  second  class  at  the  ex 
piration  of  the  fourth  year,  and  of  the  third  class  at  the  expiration  of 
the  sixth  year,  so  that  one- third  may  be  chosen  every  secontf  year; 
and  if  vacancies  happen  by  resignation,  or  otherwise,  during  the 
recess  of  the  Legislature  of  any  State,  the  Executive  thereof  may 
make  temporary  appointments  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legis 
lature,  which  shall  then  fill  such  vacancies. 

No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the 
age  of  thirty  years,  and  been  nine  years  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of  that 
State  for  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

The  Vice-President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  President  of 
the  Senate,  but  shall  have  no  vote,  unless  they  be  equally  divided. 

The  Senate  shall  choose  their  other  officers,  and  also  a  President 
pro  tempore,  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice-President,  or  when  he  shall 
exercise  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  power  to  try  all  impeachments. 
When  sitting  for  that  purpose,  they  shall  be  on  oath  or  affirmation. 
When  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  tried,  the  Chief  Justice 
shall  preside:  and  no  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  concur 
rence  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present. 

Judgment  in  cases  of  impeachment  shall  not  extend  further  than 
to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and  enjoy  any 
office  of  honor,  trust,  or  profit  under  the  United  States:  but  the 
party  convicted  shall  nevertheless  be  liable  and  subject  to  indict 
ment,  trial,  judgment,  and  punishment,  according  to  law. 


x  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

SECT.  4.  The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding  elections  foi 
Senators  and  Representatives  shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by 
the  Legislature  thereof;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any  time  by  law 
make  or  alter  such  regulations,  except  as  to  the  places  of  choosing 
Senators. 

The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  year,  and  such 
meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless  they  shall 
by  law  appoint  a  different  day. 

SECT.  5.  'Each  House  shall  be  the  judge  of  the  elections,  returns, 
and  qualifications  of  its  own  members,  and  a  majority  of  each  shall 
constitute  a  quorum  to  do  business;  but  a  smaller  number  may  ad 
journ  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  to  compel  the  attend 
ance  of  absent  members,  in  such  manner,  and  under  such  penalties, 
as  each  House  may  provide. 

Each  House  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings,  punish 
its  members  for  disorderly  behavior,  and,  with  the  concurrence  of 
two-thirds,  expel  a  member. 

Each  House  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  from 
time  to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such  parts  as  may  in  their 
judgment  require  secrecy;  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  members  of 
either  House  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  desire  of  one-fifth  of  those 
present,  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

Neither  House,  during  the  session  of  Congress,  shall,  without 
the  consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to 
any  other  place  than  that  in  which  the  two  Houses  shall  be  sitting. 

SECT.  6.  The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  receive  a  com 
pensation  for  their  services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law,  and  paid  out 
of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.  They  shall  in  all  cases,  ex 
cept  treason,  felony,  and  breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from 
arrest  during  their  attendance  at  the  session  of  their  respective 
Houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same;  and  for  any 
speech  or  debate  in  either  House  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any 
other  place. 

No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the  time  for  which 
he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  office  under  the  authority 
of  the  United  States,  which  shall  have  been  created,  or  the  emolu 
ments  whereof  shall  have  been  increased,  during  such  time;  and  no 
person  holding  any  office  under  the  United  States  shall  be  a  member 
of  either  House  during  his  continuance  in  office. 

SECT.  7.    All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  originate  in  the  House 


APPENDIX  xi 

of  Representatives;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or  concur  with 
amendments  as  on  other  bills. 

Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Representatives 
and  the  Senate  shall,  before  it  become  a  law,  be  presented  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States;  if  he  approve  he  shall  sign  it,  but 
if  not  he  shall  return  it  with  his  objections  to  that  House  in  which 
it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the  objections  at  large  OR 
their  journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If  after  such  recon 
sideration  two-thirds  of  that  House  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill,  it 
shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  objections,  to  the  other  House,  by 
which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered,  and,  if  approved  by  two- 
thirds  of  that  House,  it  shall  become  a  law.  But  in  all  such  cases 
the  votes  of  both  Houses  shall  be  determined  by  yeas  and  nays,  and 
the  names  of  the  persons  voting  for  and  against  the  bill  shall  be  en 
tered  on  the  journal  of  each  House  respectively.  If  any  bill  shall  • 
not  be  returned  by  the  President  within  ten  days  (Sundays  excepted) 
after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be  a  law, 
in  like  manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless  the  Congress  by  their 
adjournment  prevent  its  return,  in  which  case  it  shall  not  be  a  law. 

Every  order,  resolution,  or  vote  to  which  the  concurrence  of  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may  be  necessary  (except  on 
a  question  of  adjournment)  shall  be  presented  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States;  and,  before  the  same  shall  take  effect,  shall  be 
approved  by  him,  or,  being  disapproved  by  him,  shall  be  repassed 
by  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  accord 
ing  to  the  rules  and  limitations  prescribed  in  the  case  of  a  bill. 

SECT.  8.     The  Congress  shall  have  power, — 

To  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  to  pay  the 
debts  and  provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general  welfare  of 
the  United  States;  but  all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises  shall  be  uni 
form  throughout  the  United  States; 

To  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States; 

To  regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  sev 
eral  States,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes; 

To  establish  an  uniform  rule  of  naturalization,  and  uniform  laws 
on  the  subject  of  bankruptcies  throughout  the  United  States; 

To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  coin, 
and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures; 

To  provide  for  the  punishment  of  counterfeiting  the  securities 
and  current  coin  of  the  United  States; 


xii  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

To  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads; 

To  promote  the  progress  of  science  and  useful  arts,  by  securing 
for  limited  times  to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive  right  to  their 
respective  writings  and  discoveries; 

To  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  the  Supreme  Court: 

To  define  and  punish  piracies  and  felonies  committed  on  the  high 
seas,  and  offences  against  the  law  of  nations; 

To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal,  and  make 
rules  concerning  captures  on  land  and  water; 

To  raise  and  support  armies,  but  no  appropriation  of  money  to 
that  use  shall  be  for  a  longer  term  than  two  years; 

To  provide  and  maintain  a  navy; 

To  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of  the  land  and 
naval  forces; 

To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of  the 
Union,  suppress  insurrections,  and  repel  invasions; 

To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining  the  militia, 
and  for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States  respectively,  the 
appointment  of  the  officers,  and  the  authority  of  training  the  militia 
according  to  the  discipline  prescribed  by  Congress; 

To  exercise  exclusive  legislation,  in  all  cases  whatsoever,  over 
such  district  (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square)  as  may,  by  cession  of 
particular  States,  and  the  acceptance  of  Congress,  become  the  seat 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States;  and  to  exercise  like  author 
ity  over  all  places  purchased  by  the  consent  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  in  which  the  same  shall  be,  for  the  erection  of  forts,  magazines, 
arsenals,  dock-yards,  and  other  needful  buildings; — and 

To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying 
into  execution  the  foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested  by 
this  Constitution  in  the  government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any 
department  or  officer  thereof. 

SECT.  9.  The  migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any 
of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be 
prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  eight,  but  a  tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed  on  such  im 
portation,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person. 

The  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended, 
unless  when  in  cases  of  rebellion  or  invasion  the  public  safety  may 
require  it. 


APPENDIX  xiii 

No  bill  of  attainder  or  ex  post  facto  law  shall  be  passed. 

No  capitation  or  other  direct  tax  shall  be  laid,  unless  in  propor 
tion  to  the  census  or  enumeration  herein  before  directed  to  be  taken. 

No  tax  or  duty  shall  be  laid  on  articles  exported  from  any  State. 

No  preference  shall  be  given  by  any  regulation  of  commerce  or 
revenue  to  the  ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another;  nor  shall 
vessels  bound  to,  or  from,  one  State,  be  obliged  to  enter,  clear,  or 
pay  duties  in  another. 

No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury,  but  in  consequence 
of  appropriations  made  by  law;  and  a  regular  statement  and  account 
of  the  receipts  and  expenditures  of  all  public  money  shall  be  pub 
lished  from  time  to  time. 

No  title  of  nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States;  and 
no  person  holding  any  office  of  profit  or  trust  under  them  shall, 
without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  accept  of  any  present,  emolu 
ment,  office,  or  title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  king,  prince, 
or  foreign  state. 

SECT.  10.  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance,  or  con 
federation:  grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal;  coin  money;  emit 
bills  of  credit;  make  anything  but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in 
payment  of  debts;  pass  any  bill  of  attainder,  ex  post  facto  law,  or 
law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts,  or  grant  any  title  of 
nobility. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any  im 
posts  or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  except  what  may  be  absolutely 
necessary  for  executing  its  inspection  laws;  and  the  net  produce  of 
all  duties  and  imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on  imports  or  exports  shall 
be  for  the  use  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States;  and  all  such  laws 
shall  be  subject  to  the  revision  and  control  of  the  Congress. 

No  State  shall,  without  the  consent  of  Congress,  lay  any  duty  of 
tonnage,  keep  troops  or  ships  of  war  in  time  of  peace,  enter  into  any 
agreement  or  compact  with  another  State,  or  with  a  foreign  power, 
or  engage  in  war,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  such  imminent  dan 
ger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay. 

ARTICLE    II 

SECT.  1.    The  executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  President  of 
the  United  States  of  America.     He  shall  hold  his  office  during  the 
term  of  four  years,  and,  together  with  the  Vice-President,  chosen 
for  the  same  term,  be  elected  as  follows: — 
39 


riv  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature 
thereof  may  direct,  a  number  of  Electors  equal  to  the  whole  number 
of  Senators  and  Representatives  to  which  the  State  may  be  entitled 
in  the  Congress:  but  no  Senator  or  Representative,  or  person  hold 
ing  an  office  of  trust  or  profit  under  the  United  States,  shall  be 
appointed  an  Elector. 

[The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by 
ballot  for  two  persons,  of  whom  one  at  least  shall  not  be  an  inhabi 
tant  of  the  same  State  with  themselves.  And  they  shall  make  a  list 
of  all  the  persons  voted  for,  and  of  the  number  of  votes  for  each; 
which  list  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the 
seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Senate.  The  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  pres 
ence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the 
certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted.  The  person 
having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  shall  be  the  President,  if  such 
number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  Electors  appointed; 
and  if  there  be  more  than  one  who  have  such  majority,  and  have  an 
equal  number  of  votes,  then  the  House  of  Representatives  shall 
immediately  choose  by  ballot  one  of  them  for  President;  and  if  no 
person  have  a  majority,  then  from  the  five  highest  on  the  list  the 
said  House  shall  in  like  manner  choose  the  President.  But  in 
choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the 
representation  from  each  State  having  one  vote;  a  quorurn  for  this 
purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two-thirds  of 
the  States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a 
choice.  In  every  case,  after  the  choice  of  the  President,  the  person 
having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  of  the  Electors  shall  be  the 
Vice-President.  But  if  there  should  remain  two  or  more  who  have 
equal  votes,  the  Senate  shall  choose  from  them  by  ballot  the  Vice- 
President. — Repealed  by  Amendment  XII.] 

Congress  may  determine  the  time  of  choosing  the  Electors,  and 
the  day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  votes;  which  day  shall  be 
the  same  throughout  the  United  States. 

No  person  except  a  natural-born  citizen,  or  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall 
be  eligible  to  the  office  of  President;  neither  shall  any  person  be 
eligible  to  that  office  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the  age  of 
thirty-five  years,  and  been  fourteen  years  a  resident  within  the 
United  States. 


APPENDIX  xv 

In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  President  from  office,  or  of  his 
death,  resignation,  or  inability  to  discharge  the  powers  and  duties 
of  the  said  office,  the  same  shall  devolve  on  the  Vice-President,  and 
the  Congress  may  by  law  provide  for  the  case  of  removal,  death, 
resignation,  or  inability,  both  of  the  President  and  Vice-President, 
declaring  what  officer  shall  then  act  as  President,  and  such  officer 
shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  disability  be  removed,  or  a  President 
shall  be  elected. 

The  President  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  his  services  a 
compensation,  which  shall  neither  be  increased  nor  diminished 
during  the  period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected,  and  he  shall 
not  receive  within  that  period  any  other  emolument  from  the  United 
States,  or  any'  of  them. 

.Before  he  enter  on  the  execution  of  his  office,  he  shall  take  the 
following  oath  or  affirmation: — "I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm) 
that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  office  of  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  will  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and 
defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

SECT.  2.  The  President  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  militia  of  the 
several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual  service  of  the  United 
States;  he  may  require  the  opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal 
officer  in  each  of  the  executive  departments,  upon  any  subject  re 
lating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices,  and  he  shall  have 
power  to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for  offences  against  the 
United  States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  to  make  treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  present 
concur;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and,  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  shall  appoint  ambassadors,  other  public  min 
isters,  and  consuls,  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  all  other 
officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  appointments  are  not  herein 
otherwise  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  established  by  law;  but 
the  Congress  may  by  law  yest  the  appointment  of  such  inferior 
officers,  as  they  think  proper,  in  the  President  alone,  in  the  courts 
of  law,  or  in  the  heads  of  departments. 

The  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all  vacancies  that  may 
happen  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  commissions 
which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  their  next  session. 

SECT.  3.    He  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress  infor- 


xvi  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

mation  of  the  state  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their  considera 
tion  such  measures  as  he  shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient;  he 
may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene  both  Houses,  or  either  of 
them,  and  in  case  of  disagreement  between  them,  with  respect  to 
the  time  of  adjournment,  he  may  adjourn  them  to  such  time  as  he 
shall  think  proper;  he  shall  receive  ambassadors  and  other  public 
ministers;  he  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed, 
and  shall  commission  all  the  officers  of  the  United  States. 

SECT.  4.  The  President,  Vice-President,  and  all  civil  officers  of 
the  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from  office  on  impeachment  for, 
and  conviction  of,  treason,  bribery,  or  other  high  crimes  and  misde 
meanors. 

ARTICLE  III 

SECT.  1.  The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  be  vested 
in  one  Supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as  the  Congress 
may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  establish.  The  judges,  both  of 
the  Supreme  and  inferior  courts,  shall  hold  their  offices  during  good 
behavior,  and  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  for  their  services  a  com 
pensation,  which  shall  not  be  diminished  during  their  continuance 
in  office. 

SECT.  2.  The  judicial  power  shall  extend  to  all  cases,  in  law 
and  equity,  arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  and  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  their  au 
thority;  to  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers, 
and  consuls;  to  all  cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime  jurisdiction;  to 
controversies  'to  which  the  United  States  shall  be  a  party;  to 
controversies  between  two  or  more  States,  between  a  State 'and  citi 
zens  of  another  State,  between  citizens  of  different  States,  between 
citizens  of  the  same  State  claiming  lands  under  grants  of  different 
States,  and  between  a  State,  or  the  citizens  thereof,  and  foreign 
states,  citizens,  or  subjects. 

In  all  cases  affecting  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers,  and 
consuls,  and  those  in  which  a  State  shall  be  party,  the  Supreme 
Court  shall  have  original  jurisdiction.  In  all  the  other  cases  before 
mentioned,  the  Supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate  jurisdiction, 
both  as  to  law  and  fact,  with  such  exceptions,  and  under  such  regula 
tions,  as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment,  shall  be 
by  jury;  and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where  the  said 


APPENDIX  xvii 

crimes  shall  have  been  committed;  but  when  not  committed  within 
any  State,  the  trial  shall  be  at  such  place  or  places  as  the  Congress 
may  by  law  have  directed. 

SECT.  3.  Treason  against  the  United  States  shall  consist  only  in 
levying  war  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their  enemies,  giving 
them  aid  and  comfort.  No  person  shall  be  convicted  of  treason 
unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the  same  overt  act,  or 
on  confession  in  open  court. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  declare  the  punishment  of 
treason,  but  no  attainder  of  treason  shall  work  corruption  of  blood, 
or  forfeiture,  except  during  the  life  of  the  person  attainted. 

ARTICLE  IV 

SECT.  1.  Full  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State  to 
the  public  acts,  records,  and  judicial  proceedings  of  every  other 
State.  And  the  Congress  may  by  general  laws  prescribe  the  man 
ner  in  which  such  acts,  records,  and  proceedings  shall  be  proved, 
and  the  effect  thereof. 

SECT.  2.  The  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privi 
leges  and  immunities  of  citizens  in  the  several  States. 

A  person  charged  in  any  State  with  treason,  felony,  or  other 
crime,  who  shall  flee  from  justice,  and  be  found  in  another  State, 
shall,  on  demand  of  the  executive  authority  of  the  State  from  which 
he  fled,  be  delivered  up,  to  be  removed  to  the  State  having  juris 
diction  of  the  crime. 

No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State,  under  the  laws 
thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law  or 
regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor,  but 
shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  or 
labor  may  be  due. 

SECT.  3.  New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress  into 
this  Union;  but  no  New  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  State;  nor  any  State  be  formed  by 
the  junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or  parts  of  States,  without 
the  consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  concerned,  as  well  as 
of  the  Congress. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  need 
ful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  property 
belonging  to  the  United  States;  and  nothing  in  this  Constitution 


xviii          HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

shall  be  so  construed  as  to  prejudice  any  claims  of  the  United 
States,  or  of  any  particular  State. 

SECT.  4.  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in 
this  Union  a  republican  form  of  government,  and  shall  protect 
each  of  them  against  invasion;  and  on  application  of  the  Legisla 
ture,  or  of  the  Executive  (when  the  Legislature  can  not  be  con 
vened),  against  domestic  violence. 

ARTICLE  V 

The  Congress,  whenever  two-thirds  of  both  Houses  shall  deem  it 
necessary,  Si.'ill  propose  amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or,  on  the 
application  of  the  Legislatures  of  two-thirds  of  the  several  States, 
shall  call  a  convention  for  proposing  amendments,  which,  in  either 
case,  shall  be  valid  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  part  of  this  Con 
stitution,  when  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three-fourths  of  the 
several  States,  or  by  conventions  in  three-fourths  thereof,  as  the  one 
or  the  other  mode  of  ratification  may  be  proposed  by  the  Congress; 
provided  that  no  amendment  which  may  be  made  prior  to  the  year 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight  shall  in  any  manner  affect 
the  first  and  fourth  clauses  in  the  ninth  section  of  the  first  article; 
and  that  no  State,  without  its  consent,  shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal 
suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE  VI 

All  debts  contracted  and  engagements  entered  into,  before  the 
adoption  of  this  Constitution  shall  be  as  valid  against  the  United 
States  under  this  Constitution  as  under  the  Confederation. 

This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  which  shall 
be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  and  all  treaties  made,  or  which  shall 
be  made,  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land;  and  the  judges  in  every  State  shall  be 
bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  Senators  and  Representatives  before  mentioned,  and  the 
members  of  the  several  State  Legislatures,  and  all  executive  and 
judicial  officers,  both  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  several  States, 
shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  this  Constitution; 
but  no  religious  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to  any 
office  or  public  trust  under  the  United  States. 


APPENDIX  xix 

ARTICLE  VII 

The  ratification  of  the  conventions  of  nine  States  shall  be  suf 
ficient  for  the  establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the  States 
so  ratifying  the  same. 

Done  in  Convention,  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  States  present, 
the  seventeenth  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-seven,  and  of  the  Independence 
of  the  United  States  of  America  the  twelfth. 
3Jn  WLitnt&t  whereof  we  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names. 
[Signed  by]  G°  :  WASHINGTON, 

Presidt.  and  Deputy  from  Virginia, 
and  by  thirty-nine  delegates. 


xx  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


ARTICLES 

IN  ADDITION  TO,   AND  AMENDMENT  OF, 

THE   CONSTITUTION  OF 
THE  UNITED   STATES  OF  AMERICA 


ARTICLE  I 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  re 
ligion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof;  or  abridging  the 
freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the  press,  or  the  right  of  the  people  peace 
ably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition  the  government  for  a  redress  of 
grievances. 

ARTICLE  II 

A  well  regulated  militia  being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a  free 
state,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be 
infringed. 

ARTICLE  III 

No  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in  any  house, 
without  the  consent  of  the  owner,  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a  man 
ner  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

ARTICLE  IV 

The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses, 
papers,  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,  shall 
not  be  violated,  and  no  warrants  shall  issue  but  upon  probable  cause, 
supported  by  oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  describing  the 
place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons  or  things  to  be  seized. 

ARTICLE  V 

No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital,  or  otherwise  in 
famous  crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  grand  jury, 
except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia, 


APPENDIX  xxi 

when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger;  nor  shall 
any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  offence  to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy 
of  life  or  limb;  nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any  criminal  case  to  be  a 
witness  against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property, 
without  due  process  of  law;  nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for 
public  use  without  just  compensation. 

ARTICLE  VI 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to 
a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and  dis 
trict  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  district 
shall  have  been  previously  ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be  informed  of 
the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation;  to  be  confronted  with  the 
witnesses  against  him;  to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining 
witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the  assistance  of  counsel  for  his 
defence. 

ARTICLE  VII 

In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall 
exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved, 
and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined  in  any 
court  of  the  United  States,  than  according  to  the  rules  of  the  com 
mon  law. 

ARTICLE  VIII 

Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed, 
nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 

ARTICLE  IX 

The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shall  not 
be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people. 

ARTICLE  X 

The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitu 
tion,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
respectively,  or  to  the  people. 


xxii  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

ARTICLE  XI 

The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  construed 
to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted 
against  one  of  the  United  States  by  citizens  of  another  State,  or  by 
citizens  or  subjects  of  any  foreign  state. 

ARTICLE  XII 

The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  States,  and  vote  by 
ballot  for  President  and  Vice-President,  one  of  whom,  at  least, 
shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  S*ate  with  themselves;  they 
shall  name  in  their  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  President,  and  in 
distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice-President;  and  they 
shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  President,  and  of 
all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  of  the  number  of  votes 
for  each,  which  lists  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed 
to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed  to  the 
President  of  the  Senate; — the  President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the 
presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the 
certificates,  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted; — the  person  having 
the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  President  shall  be  the  President,  if 
such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  Electors  ap 
pointed;  and  if  no  person  have  such  majority,  then  from  the  per 
sons  having  the  highest  numbers  not  exceeding  three  on  the  list  of 
those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House  of  Representatives  shall 
choose  immediately,  by  ballot,  the  President.  But  in  choosing  the 
President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  States,  the  representation  from 
each  State  having  one  vote;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose  shall  consist 
of  a  member  or  members  from  two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a 
majority  of  all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  And  if  the 
House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a  President,  whenever  the 
right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before  the  fourth  day  of 
March  next  following,  then  the  Vice-President  shall  act  as  President, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or  other  constitutional  disability  of  the 
President.  The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  as  Vice- 
President  shall  be  the  Vice-President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority 
of  the  whole  number  of  Electors  appointed,  and  if  no  person  have  a 
majority,  then  from  the  two  highest  numbers  on  the  list  the  Senate 
shall  choose  the  Vice-President;  a  quorum  for  the  purpose  shall 
consist  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and  a  ma 
jority  of  the  whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  But  no 


APPENDIX  xxiii 

person  constitutionally  ineligible  to  the  office  of  President  shall  be 
eligible  to  that  of  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. 

ARTICLE  XIII 

SECT.  1.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as  a 
punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con 
victed,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  subject  to 
their  jurisdiction. 

SECT.  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by 
appropriate  legislation. 

ARTICLE  XIV 

SECT.  1.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States, 
and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State  shall  make 
or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States;  nor  shall  any  State  deprive  any 
person  of  life,  liberty,  ,or  property,  without  due  process  of  law;  nor 
deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of 
the  laws. 

SECT.  2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the  sev 
eral  States  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the 
whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed.  But  when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election  for  the  choice  of 
Electors  for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States, 
Representatives  in  Congress,  the  executive  and  judicial  officers  of  a 
State,  or  the  members  of  the  Legislature  thereof,  is  denied  to  any 
of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  State,  being  twenty-one  years  of  age 
and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way  abridged,  except 
for  participation  in  rebellion  or  other  crime,  the  basis  of  representa 
tion  therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion  which  the  number 
of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number  of  male  citi 
zens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

SECT.  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  or  Representative  in 
Congress,  or  Elector  of  President  and  Vice-President,  or  hold  any 
office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States,  or  under  any 
State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oath,  as  a  member  of  Con 
gress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of  any 
State  Legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any  State, 


xxiv  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall  have  engaged 
in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given  aid  or  com 
fort  to  the  enemies  thereof.  But  Congress  may,  by  a  vote  of  two- 
thirds  of  each  House,  remove  such  disability. 

SECT.  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States, 
authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment  of  pensions 
and  bounties  for  services  in  suppressing  insurrection  or  rebellion, 
shall  not  be  questioned.  But  neither  the  United  States,  nor  any 
State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred  in  aid  of 
insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or  any  claim  for 
the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slave;  but  all  such  debts,  obliga 
tions,  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and  void. 

SECT.  5.     The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by  appro 
priate  legislation,  the  provisions  of  this  article. 
ARTICLE  XV 

SECT.  1.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall 
not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States,  or  by  any  State,  on 
account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

SECT.  2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article 
by  appropriate  legislation. 

ARTICLE  XVI 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes  on  incomes, 
from  whatever  source  derived,  without  apportionment  among  the 
several  States,  and  without  regard  to  any  census  or  enumeration. 
ARTICLE  XVII 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of  two  Sena 
tors  from  each  State,  elected  by  the  people  thereof,  for  six  years; 
and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote.  The  electors  in  each  State 
shall  have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of  the  most  nu 
merous  branch  of  the  State  legislatures. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  of  any  State  in  the 
Senate,  the  executive  authority  of  such  State  shall  issue  writs  of  elec 
tion  to  fill  such  vacancies:  Provided,  That  the  legislature  of  any  State 
may  empower  the  executive  thereof  to  make  temporary  appointments 
until  the  people  fill  the  vacancies  by  election  as  the  legislature  may 
direct. 

This  amendment  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  affect  the  elec 
tion  or  term  of  any  Senator  chosen  before  it  becomes  valid  as  part 
of  the  Constitution. 


APPENDIX  xxv 

ARTICLE  XVIII 

SECT.  1.  After  one  year  from  the  ratification  of  this  article  the 
manufacture,  sale  or  transportation  of  intoxicating  liquors  within, 
the  importation  thereof  into,  or  the  exportation  thereof  from  the 
United  States  and  all  territories  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof 
for  beverage  purposes  is  hereby  prohibited. 

SECT.  2.  The  Congress  and  the  several  States  shall  have  con 
current  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate  legislation. 


INDEX 


Abercrombie,  108. 

Abolitionists,  296,  315-317,  320, 
368;  persecuted,  316. 

Acts  of  trade,  137. 

Adams,  Charles  F.,  341,  419. 

Adams,  Charles  F.,  Jr.,  quoted,  488. 

Adams,  John,  quoted,  121,  122,  138, 
152;  defends  British  soldiers,  147; 
peace  commissioner,  176,  177; 
Vice-President,  198,  208;  Presi 
dent,  215-221;  character,  215; 
portrait,  215;  candidate  for  Presi 
dent,  220. 

Adams,  John  Q.,  Secretary  of  State, 
257;  quoted,  257,  258;  elected 
President,  279;  administration, 
279-288;  portrait,  280;  character, 
280;  opposed  to  gag  rule,  318. 

Adams,  Samuel,  portrait,  113;  letter 
to  the  Colonies,  145;  in  the  town 
meeting,  147;  favors  war,  152. 

Advertisement  for  a  runaway  slave, 
115;  ,from  New  York  Gazette, 
1771,  J.J3. 

Agriculture,  development  of  West 
and,  541. 

Aguinaldo,  521. 

Alabama,  admitted,  267;  joins  Con 
federacy,  382,  387;  readmitted, 
441. 

Alabama  claims,  419,  448,  449. 

Alabama  letters,  322. 

Alabama,  the,  419. 

Alaska  purchased,  443,  520;  boun 
dary  of,  529. 

Albany  Congress,  104. 

Alexander  VI,  bull  of,  17. 

Algeria,  trouble  with,  224. 

Alien  law,  218. 

Allouez,  100. 

Amendments,  first  ten,  196; 
eleventh,  213,  214;  twelfth,  221; 
thirteenth,  426,  473;  fourteenth, 
438.  439.  44°.  44i;  fifteenth,  446; 
sixteenth,  533,  534;  seventeenth, 


553;  eighteenth,  see  Appendix, 
xxv. 

America,  discovery  of,  by  Columbus, 
7;  naming  of,  12. 

American  colonies,  519,  520;  policy 
toward,  520,  521;  conditions  in, 
52i; 

American  Federation  of  Labor,  492. 

American  people,  condition  of,  in 
1765,  112-131;  in  1830,  293-297; 
to-day,  552-562.  See  also  Indus 
trial  conditions. 

Amherst,  General  Jeffrey,  109. 

Anderson,  Major,  381,  386,  387. 

Andre,  Major,  170. 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  71,  77,  79. 

Annapolis  Convention,  189. 

Annexation  of  Louisiana,  230-233; 
of  Florida,  268;  of  Texas,  321-326; 
of  Oregon,  327;  of  California  and 
the  West,  336;  Gadsden  purchase, 
336;  of  Alaska,  443;  of  the  Philip 
pines,  519,  520;  of  Porto  Rico, 
519;  of  Hawaii,  500,  520. 

Antietam,  battle  of,  403. 

Appomattox,  surrender  of  Lee  at,  427. 

Arbitration,  of  Venezuelan  dispute,. 
510;  treaty,  510;  of  coal  strike  dif 
ferences,  543;  of  Alaskan  bound 
ary  dispute,  529;  Hague  confer 
ence,  530,  531.  See  also  Alabama 
Claims,  Seal  Fisheries. 

Archduke  of  Austria,  assassination 
of,  565»  566. 

Arkansas,  admitted,  305;  secedes, 
387;  readmitted,  441. 

Armada,  the,  23. 

Arnold,  Benedict,  attacks  Quebec, 
158;  treason,  170. 

Aroostook  war,  313. 

Art  in  America,  559. 

Arthur,  Chester  A.,  elected  Vice- 
President,  467,  468;  becomes 
President,  470;  character,  470; 
administration,  470-473. 


xxvn 


xxviii         HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Articles  of  Association  of  First  Con 
tinental  Congress,  151. 

Articles  of  Confederation.  See  Con 
federation. 

Ashburton  treaty,  the,  313. 

Asia,  desire  to  reach,  8. 

Assembly,  first  in  America,  33. 

Association,  the,  151. 

Assumption  of  State  debts,  204. 

Atlanta,  capture  of,  420,  425;  growth 
of,  436. 

Atlantic  cable,  443. 

Austria,  entrance  of,  into  World 
War,  565;  abdication  of  emperor 

of,  583- 
Azores,  the,  17. 


Bacon's  rebellion,  38. 

Balboa,  13. 

Ballot  reform,  502,  503. 

Ball's  Bluff,  battle  of,  400. 

Baltimore,  Lord,  41;  founds  Mary 
land,  41. 

Bancroft,  George,  294,  326. 

Bank,  the  first,  205;  the  second, 
257-259;  new  charter  vetoed,  302; 
removal  of  deposits,  303;  National 
Bank  Act,  412,  413. 

Balkan  peninsula,  international  im 
portance  of,  564. 

Barbary  war,  224. 

Barclay,  Commodore,  249. 

Barlow,  Asa,  477. 

Barnburners,  the,  340. 

Beauregard,  General,  386,  390. 

Behaim  globe,  p. 

Belgium,  invasion  of,  566. 

Belknap,  W.  W.,  453. 

Bell,  John,  nominated  for  President, 

377- 

Belligerency  of  Confederacy,  392. 
Bennington,  battle  of,  165,  166. 
Benton,  Thomas  H.,  quoted,   259, 

330;  offers  expunging  resolution, 

3°4- 

Berkeley,  Lord  John,  78. 
Berkeley,    Sir  William,  37;  quoted, 

38,  39- 

Berlin  Decree,  239. 
Bill  of  Rights,  162. 
Bimetallism,  504. 
Birmingham,  486. 


Birney,  James  G.,  322. 

Black,  Jeremiah  S.,  365,  380. 

Elaine,  J.  G.,  466,  467;  Secretary  of 
State,  468,  498-500,  503;  nomi 
nated  for  presidency,  472. 

Blair,  Francis  P.,  Jr.,  nominated  for 
vice-presidency,  433. 

Bland-Allison  Bill,  462. 

Bonds,  issue  of,  510. 

Booth,  J.  W.,  433- 

Boston,  founded,  59;  early  settle 
ment  of,  62,  63;  map,  156;  evacu 
ated  by  British,  158. 

Boston  massacre,  the,  147. 

Boston  Port  Bill,  148,  149. 

Boston  Tea  Party,  the,  148. 

Boundary  of  the  United  States,  177, 
178,313,328,336,449,552.  See 
also  Annexation. 

Braddock's  defeat,  105,  106. 

Bradford,  William,  quoted,  51-55; 
his  manuscript  history,  53. 

Bradley,  J.  P.,  457. 

Bragg,  General,  399,  410,  411. 

Brandy  wine,  battle  of,  167. 

Breckinridge,  John  C.,  elected  Vice- 
President,  363;  nominated  for 
President,  376. 

Bristow,  B.  H.,  453. 

Brooks,  Preston  S.,  362. 

Brown,  B.  G.,  nominated  for  vice- 
presidency,  450. 

Brown,  General  J.,  251. 

Brown,  John,  raid  of,  375,  376;  his 
fort,  375. 

Bryan,  William  J.,  512,  522,  551. 

Buchanan,  James,  Secretary  of 
State,  326;  minister  to  England, 
354;  elected  President,  363;  por 
trait,  365;  character,  365;  admin 
istration,  ^65-384;  message,  380; 
the  Southern  forts,  380,  381. 

Buckner,  Simon  B.,  512. 

Buell,  General,  398. 

Buena  Vista,  battle  of,  334. 

Building  ordinances,  546. 

Bull  of  demarcation,  17. 

Bull  Run,  battle  of,  390;.  second  bat 
tle  of,  403. 

Bunker  Hill,  battle  of,  156. 

Bureau  of  Corporations,  531. 

Burgoyne,  General  John,  165;  sur 
renders,  1 66. 


INDEX 


XXIX 


Burke,  Edmund,  152;  quoted,  89, 
121,  131,  136,  141,  145. 

Burnside,  .General,  403. 

Burr,  Aaron,  candidate  for  Vice- 
President,  215;  elected  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  220,  221;  duel  with  Hamil 
ton,  228;  conspiracy,  229. 

Butler,  Benjamin  F.,  472. 

Butler,  William  O.,  340. 

Cabinet,  the  first,  200-202;  nature 
of,  201;  changes  in,  213. 

Cable,  Atlantic,  443. 

Cabot,  John,  9,  10. 

Calhoun,  JohniC.,  enters  Congress, 
244;  Secretary  of  War,  257;  prin 
ciples,  262,  299,  346,  382;  quoted, 
264,  298,  300,  330;  Vice-President, 
279,  289;  portrait,  299;  resigns 
vice-presidency,  301;  position,  on 
annexation  of  Texas,  321;  on 
slavery,  340,  346. 

California,  desire  to  obtain,  329; 
conquered,  334;  annexed,  336; 
gold  discovered,  343;  admitted, 
343-347;  growth  of,  475,  476,  480. 

Calvert,  Cecilius,  41. 

Calvert,  George,  41.  See  also  Balti 
more,  Lord. 

Camden,  battle  of,  172. 

Cameron,  Simon,  386,  395. 

Canada,  trade  relations  with,  534. 
See  also  New  France. 

Cape  Verde  Islands,  17. 

Capitol,  site  for,  204,  205. 

Carolinas,  the,  early  history,  44-47; 
charter,  44;  map  of  grant,  45;  be 
ginning  of  North  Carolina,  45; 
beginning  of  South  Carolina,  45; 
Locke's  "Grand  Model,"  46;  in 
eighteenth  century,  91,  92,  93; 
become  royal  colonies,  91.  See 
also  North  Carolina  and  South 
Carolina. 

Caroline  affair,  the,  313. 

Carpet-bag  government,  442,  447. 

Carroll,  Charles,  284,  285. 

Carteret,  Sir  George,  78. 

Carteret,  Philip,  78. 

Cartier,  Jacques,  19. 

Cass,  Lewis,  writes  Nicholson  letter, 
339;  nominated  for  President,  340; 
Secretary  of  State,  365 ;  resigns,  380. 


Cattle  industry,  481,  482,  541. 
Caucus  system,  277,  278. 
Cavaliers,  immigration  of,  36. 
Cedar  Creek,  battle  of,  418. 
Central  Pacific  Railroad,  478. 
Cerro  Gordo,  battle  of,  335. 
Cervera,  Admiral,  517,  518. 
Champlain,  Samuel  de,  98. 
Chancellorsville,  battle  of,  408. 
Chapultepec,  battle  of,  335. 
Charles  I,  35,  36,  55. 
Charles  II,  38,  44,  45,  70. 
Charleston   founded,    45;   attacked 

by  British,  158,  172;  convention 

at,  378;  map,  387. 
Charleston  Mercury,  379. 
Chase,  Salmon  P.,  353;  Secretary  of 

Treasury,  386;  resigns,  423;  made 

Chief    Justice,    423;    presides   at 

impeachment  trial,  441. 
Chatham.    See  Pitt,  William. 
Chattanooga,  battle  of,  411. 
Cherry  Valley  massacre,  171. 
Chesapeake,  the  affair  of  the,  238. 
Chicago,  247,  306,  506. 
Chickamauga,  battle  of,  410. 
Child  labor  laws,  544. 
Chili,  trouble  with,  499. 
China,  attitude  of  U.  S.  toward,  529. 
Chinese,  exclusion  of,  471. 
Chippewa,  battle  of,  252. 
Christ  Church,  Boston,  view  of,  96. 
Christina,  Fort,  75. 
Cities,   growth   of,   484,   485,    538; 

problems    of,     546;     commission 

government    of,    547.    See    also 

Industrial  Conditions. 
Civil  Rights  bill,  437,  438. 
Civil  service  reform,  450,  470,  494, 

495- 

Civil  war,  causes,  376-384;  progress, 
'387-429;  losses,  431;  effects,  445, 

'  446. 

Clark,  George  Rogers,  services,  171, 
172. 

Clark,  William.  See  Lewis  and 
Clark. 

Clay,  Henry,  as  speaker,  243,  244; 
portrait,  244;  and  the  Missouri 
compromise,  273;  candidate  for 
President,  278;  Secretary  of  State, 
281;  character,  303;  candidate  for 
presidency,  303,  322;  in  1840,  310; 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


quoted,  310,  345;  offers  compro 
mise  of  1850,  345;  death,  353. 

Clermont,  the,  234. 

Cleveland,  Grover,  elected  Presi 
dent,  472,  473;  life  and  character, 
4931  portrait,  493;  first  adminis 
tration,  493-498;  renominated, 
497;  Hawaiian  policy,  500;  re- 
nominated  and  elected,  503,  504; 
second  administration,  504-513; 
Venezuelan  message,  509. 

Clinton,  De  Witt,  and  the  Erie 
Canal,  262. 

Clinton,  George,  Vice-President, 
240. 

Clinton,  Sir  Henry,  158,  169. 

Cobb,  Howell,  365,  380. 

Cold  Harbor,  battle  of,  416. 

Colfax,  Schuyler,  elected  Vice-Presi 
dent,  443,  444. 

Colombia  and  the  Panama  Canal, 

525; 

Colonies,  European,  in  America, 
1650,  75;  map  showing  types  of 
government  in,  93.  See  also 
English  Colonies,  English  Colon 
ization,  French  Colonization,  etc. 

Colorado,  475. 

Columbus,  Christopher,  6;  first  voy 
age,  7;  discovers  America,  7;  other 
discoveries,  7;  portrait  of,  7; 
death  of,  8;  map  of  voyages  of,  8. 

Commerce,  with  the  East,  2;  New 
England,  in  1760,  121;  regulation 
of  interstate,  489,  495,  534. 

Commission  government,  547. 

Committees  of  Correspondence,  147. 

Compromise,  in  Constitutional  Con 
vention,  191,  192;  Missouri,  272, 
273;  of  1833,  301;  of  1850,  345- 
347.  351.  356;  the  Crittenden, 
381. 

Comstock  lode,  the,  475. 

"Concessions,  the,"  78. 

Concord,  battle  of,  154. 

Conestoga  wagon,  264. 

Confederacy,  Southern,  formed,  382; 
belligerency  acknowledged,  392; 
difficulty  in  supporting  war,  429. 

Confederation,  Articles  of,  proposed, 
169,  1 80;  ratified,  180;  character 
of,  180-182;  trouble  during,  182- 
184,  188. 


Confederation,  New  England,  69, 
70. 

Congress,  the  Albany,  104.  See 
also  Continental  Congress. 

Congress  of  the  Confederation, 
powers  of,  180-182. 

Conkling,  Roscoe,  466,  467,  468, 
469. 

Connecticut,  66-68;  fundamental 
orders  of,  67;  charter,  70;  in  con 
federation,  69;  in  eighteenth  cen 
tury,  90;  western  claims  of,  185, 
186. 

Conservation  of  natural  resources, 
539,  540. 

Constitution,  framed,  190-195;  char^ 
acter  of,  193,  194,  196;  ratified, 
195,  196;  broad  and  strict  con 
struction,  206,  282. 

Constitution,  the,  battle  of,  with  the 
Guerriere,  248;  cut  of,  248. 

Constitutions,  first  State,  159,  161. 

Continental  Congress,  the  First, 
150;  its  declarations,  150;  Arti 
cles  of  Association,  151. 

Continental  Congress,  the  Second, 
meets,  155;  incompetency,  168, 169. 

Convention,  the  Federal,  meeting 
of,  189,  190;  membership,  190; 
work  of,  190-193. 

Cooley,  Judge  Thomas  M.,  495. 

Cooper,  J.  Fennimore,  293. 

Cornwallis,  General,  164;  baffled  by 
Washington,  164;  in  the  South, 
172-175;  baffled  by  Lafayette, 
174;  surrenders,  175. 

Coronado,  14. 

Corporations,  489;  and  politics,  531, 
532;  machinery  and,  541;  control 
of,  542. 

Cortez,  Hernando,  15. 

Cosby,  Governor,  90. 

Cotton,  270,  271,  372,  392,  396;  after 
Civil  War,  486. 

Cotton  gin,  270;  picture  of,  270. 

Court,  Federal,  established,  203, 
225;  second  judiciary  act,  224, 
225;  judges  impeached,  226;  de 
velopment  of,  227. 

Court,  general.  See  Fundamental 
Orders. 

Courtesy  of  the  Senate,  469. 

Cowpens,  battle  of,  174. 


INDEX 


XXXI 


Crandal,  Prudence,  316. 

Crawford,  William  H.,  257,  278. 

Credit  Mobilier,  452. 

Crittenden,  Senator,  381. 

Crown  Point,  attacked  by  English, 
1 06;  taken  by  Americans,  155. 

Cuba,  desire  to  obtain,  354,  380;  re 
bellion  in,  508,  515;  United  States 
declares  independence  of,  517; 
war  in,  517,  518;  under  control  of 
United  States,  519,  522;  complete 
independence  of,  522;  relations  of 
United  States  with,  530. 

Culebra  cut  on  Panama  Canal,  525. 

Cumberland  road,  261;  map  of,  261. 

Currency,  257,  412,  413,^  429,  454, 
504,  510;  demonetization  of  sil 
ver,  461;  Bland- Allison  Bill,  462; 
the  silver  question.  461,  462,  495, 
496,  501,  505,  506,  510-512;  the 
Sherman  Act.  501,  505. 

Dallas.  GeoigeM., Vice-President,  32  2 

Davis,  Jefferson.  353;  Confederate 
President,  382;  portrait.  383. 

Dayton.  William  L-,  363 

Dearborn   General,  250. 

Debt,  national,  203,  204,  431,  444; 
State,  assumption  of,  204. 

Declaratory  Act,  143. 

Delaware,  early  history  of,  75,  84. 

Demdcracy,  276,  293,  296,  297,  569. 

Democratic  party,  divided,  376;  at 
titude  toward  the  war,  395.  See 
also  Party. 

De  Soto,  13. 

Detroit,  founded,  101,  102;  surren 
der  of,  247. 

Development  of  the  United  States, 
552-562- 

Dewey,  Commodore,  517. 

Dickinson,  John,  145. 

Direct  primaries,  502,  503,  547. 

Discovery,  Spanish,  13-15. 

Distribution  of  surplus  revenue,  305. 

"Divorce  Bill,"  309. 

Dixon,  Archibald,  355. 

Donelson,  Andrew  J.,  363. 

Donelson,  Fort,  397,  398. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.r  supports  Kan 
sas-Nebraska  bill,  356,  358;  de 
bate  with  Lincoln,  369;  nomi 
nated  for  President,  377. 


Draft,  the,  414;  riots,  414. 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  voyages  of,  22. 

Dred  Scott  case,  366. 

Duane,  William  J.,  303. 

Duquesne,  Fort,  105,  106,  109. 

Dutch,  the,  settle  in  America,  73,  74; 
lose  New  Netherland,  76;  charac 
ter  of,  77. 

Early,  General,  417. 

East,  the,  trade  with,  2;  books  on,  3. 
See  also  China  and  Japan. 

Education,  in  colonies,  39,  62,  63, 
117,  122,  125;  in  the  United 
States,  295,  297,  558,  559;  in  the 
South,  374,  375;  in  the  Philip 
pines,  530. 

Eighteenth  century,  character  of, 
88,  89,  95;  history  of,  87-94. 

El  Caney,  battle  of,  518. 

Election  of  1789,  198;  1792,  208; 
1796,  215;  1800,  220;  1804,  228; 
1808,  240;  1812,  246;  1816,  257; 
1820,  257;  1824,  278,  279;  1828, 
288,  289;  1832,  302,  303;  1836, 
307;  1840,  309-311;  1844,  322, 
323;  1848,  340-342;  1852,  352; 
1856,  363,  364;  1860,  376-378; 
1864,  423-425;  1868,  443,  444; 
1872,  450,  451;  1876,  454-458; 
1880,  466-468;  1884,  472,  473; 
1888,  497;  1892,  503,  504;  1896, 
511-513;  1900,  522;  1904,  531; 
1908,  531;  1912,  549,  550;  1916, 
576. 

Electoral  Commission,  the,  457. 

Electoral  count  act,  494. 

Electoral  reform,  502,  503. 

Ellsworth,  Oliver,  190,  203. 

Emancipation  *  Proclamation,  405; 
issued,  406;  facsimile  of,  407;  re 
sults,  408. 

Embargo,  239. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  294; 
quoted,  296. 

Employers'  liability  acts,  544,  545. 

Endicott,  John,  57. 

England,  in  sixteenth  century,  20; 
hatred  of  Spain,  21;  in  seven 
teenth  century,  35,  36;  claims  in 
eighteenth  century,  87,  94;  wars 
with  France,  87,  97-111,  236; 
condition  of,  in  eighteenth  cen- 


xxxii         HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


tury,  106;  representation  in,  133- 
135;  trouble  with,  189,  209,  313; 
at  war  with  France,  209,  210,  236; 
War  of  1812,  245-255;  treaty 
with,  see  Treaties;  acknowledges 
belligerency  of  South,  392;  and 
.the  Trent  affair,  396;  Alabama 
trouble,  see  Alabama  Claims;  seal 
fisheries  question,  499,  507;  Sa- 
moan  question,  499;  Venezuela 
question,  509,  510;  relation  of 
United  States  with,  529;  reaction 
of,  to  invasion  of  Belgium,  566; 
entrance  of  into  World  War,  566; 
Germany  blockaded  by,  569. 

English  church,  43. 

English  colonies,  political  character, 
88,  89;  in  eighteenth  century,  87- 
95;  strength  of,  in  French  and 
Indian  War,  107;  conditions  in, 
in  1760,  112-132;  schools,  117, 
122,  125;  local  government,  126- 
129;  forms  of  government,  130, 
131;  spirit  of  liberty  in,  131. 

English  colonization,  motives  for, 
24,  25;  character  of,  102. 

English,  W.  H.,  nominated  for  Vice- 
President,  467. 

Entente  cordiale,  564. 

Era  of  good  feeling,  257,  280. 

Erie  Canal,  262;  map  of,  262;  pic 
ture  of  lock  of,  263. 

Erskine  treaty,  241. 

Essex,  cruise  of,  253. 

Everett,  Edward,  294;  quoted,  354; 
nominated  for  Vice  -  President, 
377- 

Excise  bill,  Hamilton's,  205;  opposi 
tion  to,  208,  209. 

Expansion,  policy  01,  520,  526. 

Expunging  resolution,  304. 

Factory  system,  483. 

Fair  Oaks,  battle  of,  401. 

"Farmer's  Letters,"  145. 

Farragut,  David  G.,  40x3,  418. 

Federalist,  the,  195. 

Federalist  party,  207,  218;  downfall, 

229;    conspiracy,    227,    228.     See 

also  Party. 
Field,  James  G.,  504. 
Fillmore,     Millard,     elected     Vice- 

President,    341;    President,    348- 


352;  character,  348;  nominated 
for  President,  363. 

Financial  questions.  See  Currency 
Banks,  Debt. 

Fisheries,  the,  449,  450. 

Five  Nations,  the.     See  Iroquois. 

Florida,  annexed,  268;  admitted, 
342;  joins  Confederacy,  382,  387; 
readmitted,  441;  election  of  1876 
in,  456. 

Florida,  West,  Spanish  claim  to, 
178,  231,  268;  seized,  232. 

Floyd,  John  B.,  365,  380. 

Foch,  Ferdinand,  580. 

Foote,  Commodore,  396,  398. 

Force  bills,  301,  448. 

Fox,  Charles  J.,  152. 

Fox,  George,  80,  81. 

"Frame  of  Government,"  83,  85. 

France,  explorations  of,  19;  claims 
in  1 8th  Century,  87;  wars  with 
England,  87,  97-111,  209,  210, 
236;  colonization,  98;  alliance 
with,  167,  1 68;  sends  Genet  to 
America,  210,  211;  difficulties 
with,  216-218,  238-241;  sells 
Louisiana  to  United  States,  231; 
proclamation  of  neutrality,  392; 
see  also  New  France,  entrance 
into  World  War,  566. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  his  plan  of 
Union,  104;  portrait,  125;  birth 
place,  126;  quoted,  136,  155,  159, 
373;  in  France,  167;  peace  com 
missioner,  176,  177;  in  Phila 
delphia  convention,  190. 

Fraunces'  tavern,  176. 

Frederick,  King,  106. 

Fredericksburg,  battle  of,  403. 

Freedmen's  Bureau  act,  440. 

Free-soil  party,  341.  See  also 
Party. 

Frelinghuysen,  Theodore,  322. 

Fremont,  John  C.,  nominated  for 
President,  363,  423. 

French  and  Indian  War,  106-111; 
maps  of,  107,  108;  important  re 
sults  of,  no,  in. 

French  colonization,  failure  of,  in 
South,  19;  success  of,  in  North, 
20;  beginnings,  98;  character,  102, 
103. 

French  decrees,  238,  "42. 


INDEX 


XXXlll 


French  explorers,  100,  101. 

Friends.     See  Quakers. 

Frontenac,  Fort,  109. 

Fugitive  slave  law,  347,  348;  vio 
lated,  360,  367. 

Fulton,  Robert,  steamboat  invented 
by,  234. 

Fundamental  Orders.  See  Connec 
ticut. 

Gadsden  purchase,  the,  336. 

Gage,  General,  154,  156. 

Gallatin,  Albert,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  224,  241. 

Garfield,  James  A.,  elected  presi 
dent,  467-469;  administration, 
468-470; 'life  and  character,  468; 
assassinated,  469. 

Garrison,  William  L.,  315-317;  por 
trait  of,  316;  quoted,  316,  317, 
352. 

Gaspee,  the,  destroyed,  147. 

Gates,  General  Horatio,  166;  de 
feated  at  Camden,  172. 

Genet,  Citizen,  210,  211. 

Geneva  award,  449. 

George,  Fort,  250. 

George  III,  purposes  of,  135,  151, 
152;  hires  mercenaries,  157;  loses 
America,  175. 

Georgia,  settlement  of,  94,  95;  char 
acter  of,  95;  becomes  a  royal  col 
ony,  95;  attitude  of,  before  the 
Revolution,  150;  Indian  troubles 
in,  286;  joins  the  Confederacy, 
382,  387. 

Germantown,  battle  of,  167. 

Germany,  Samoan  question  and, 
499;  military  policy  of,  564,  565; 
entrance  of,  into  World  War,  566; 
use  of  submarine  by,  568;  prin 
ciples  of  frightfulness  of,  569;  ab 
dication  of  Kaiser  of,  583. 

Gerry,  Elbridge,  Commissioner,  216; 
Vice-President,  246. 

Gettysburg,  battle  of,  408,  409. 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  23,  519. 

Gorges,  Ferdinando,  68;  grant  to,  68. 

Graham,  William  A.,  352. 

Granger  movement,  487. 

Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  quoted,  335,  422, 
429;  in  Mexican  war,  335;  in  civil 
war,  397,  398,  399,  409-411,  414- 


416,  427;  portrait,  415;  elected 
President,  443,  444;  administra 
tion,  444-458;  life  and  character, 
444;  re-elected,  451;  in  conven 
tion  of  1880,  467. 

Greeley,  Horace,  quoted,  312,  390; 
nominated  for  Presidency,  450. 

Greenback  party,  455. 

Greenbacks  issued,  412;  specie  pay 
ment,  454,  462. 

Greene,  General  Nathanael,  in  the 
South,  174. 

Greenville,  treaty  of,  212. 

Grenville,  George,  139. 

Guadaloupe  Hidalgo,  treaty  of,  336. 

Guilford  Court  House,  battle  of,  174. 

Guiteau,  470. 

Hague  conference,  530. 

Hale,  John  P.,  352. 

"Half-breeds,"  the,  468. 

Halifax  award,  the,  450. 

Halleck,  General,  402. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  quoted,  188, 
189;  in  Annapolis  convention,  189; 
in  Philadelphia  convention,  190; 
in  New  York  convention,  195; 
writes  Federalist  articles,  195; 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  200- 
213;  financial  plans,  203-205; 
portrait,  204;  death  of,  228;  char 
acter,  228. 

Hamilton,  Andrew,  90. 

Hamlin,  Hannibal,  elected  Vice- 
President,  377,  378;  mentioned, 
424. 

Hampton  Roads,  battle  of,  400. 

Hancock,  General  W.  S.,  nominated 
for  presidency,  467. 

Harper's  Ferry,  seized  by  Brown, 
376;  captured,  403. 

Harrison,  Benjamin,  elected  Presi 
dent,  497;  administration,  498- 
504;  life  and  character  of,  498; 
portrait,  498;  renominated,  503. 

Harrison,  William  H.,  at  battle  of 
Tippecanoe,  243;  at  Fort  Meigs, 
249;  at  the  Thames,  250;  nomi 
nated  for  the  presidency,  307, 
310;  character,  310,  311;  elected, 
311;  administration,  311;  death, 

3". 
Hartford,  founded,  67. 


xxxiv         HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Hartford  convention,  254. 

Harvard  College  founded,  63. 

Hawaiian  Islands,  revolution  in, 
500;  annexed,  500,  520. 

Hawkins,  John,  22. 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  293. 

Hay,  John,  527. 

Hayes,  R.  B.,  nominated  for  presi 
dency,  454;  elected,  457;  quoted, 
458;  life  and  character,  459;  por 
trait,  459;  administration,  459- 
468;  vetoes  Bland- Allison  Bill, 
462;  opposed  to  riders,  463. 

Hayne,  Senator,  300. 

Hendricks,  T.  A.,  nominated  for 
vite-presidency,  455,  472;  death 
of,  494. 

Henry,  Fort,  396,  397. 

Henry,  Patrick,  portrait  of,  133; 
speech  in  parson's  cause,  138;  res 
olutions,  141;  quoted,  154. 

Herkimer,  General  Nicholas,  166. 

Hessians,  defeated,  164. 

Historical  writing,  558. 

Hobart,  Garret  A.,  elected  Vice- 
President,  511-512. 

Hobson,  Lieutenant,  518. 

Holland  in  seventeenth  century,  73. 

Holmes,  O.  W.,  558. 

Holy  Alliance,  the,  273. 

Homestead  act,  481. 

Hood,  General,  421,  422. 

Hooker,  General,  408,  411. 

Hooker,  Thomas,  66,  67. 

Houston,  Samuel,  321. 

Howe,  General,  158.  163,  164;  fail 
ure,  164;  proceeds  to  Philadelphia, 
167;  succeeded  by  Clinton,  169. 

Howe,  Richard,  offers  pardon,  163. 

Hudson,  Henry,  73. 

Hull,  Commodore  Isaac,  248. 

Hull,  General  William,  247. 

Hutchinson,  Anne  65. 

Hutchinsons,  the,  319. 

Idaho  admitted,  481. 
Illinois  admitted,  267. 
Immigration,    305,    323,    350,    483, 

538,  553- 
Impeachment    of    judges,    226;    of 

President,   441;   of   Secretary   of 

War,  453- 
Imperialism,  policy  of,  514-526. 


Implied  powers,  206. 

Impressment,  237,  245. 

Income  tax,  504,  508. 

Independence,  Declaration  of,  151, 
158,  159;  original  draft,  160. 

Independent  Treasury,  309,  326. 

Indian  treaty  belt,  37. 

Indiana,  admitted,  267. 

Indians,  uprising  of,  in  Virginia,  34; 
the  Pequot  War,  67;  in  the  Revo 
lution,  171;  hostile,  21 1 ;  defeated, 
212;  Battle  of  Tippecanoe,  243; 
in  War  of  1812,  243,  247,  248,  251; 
in  Georgia,  286;  removed  to  res 
ervations,  287. 

Industrial  conditions,  114-117,  120, 
125,  184,  234,  239,  256-271,  298, 
304-309,  350,  351,  370-374,  388, 
412,  413,  444,  454,  474-492,  505, 
506,  535-546;  railroads,  see  Rail 
roads;  strikes,  489-491,  543;  la 
bor  organizations,  489-492,  543; 
changes  of  a  century,  553-556. 
See  also  West,  the. 

Initiative,    referendum   and   recall, 

547- 

Inland  Waterways  Commission,  539. 
Intercolonial  wars,  88,  97-110. 
Internal     improvements,     260-262, 

283,  306,  478. 
Interstate  Commerce  Act,  489,  495, 

534- 

Intolerable  acts,  the  five,  147-150. 
Intolerance,    in    England,    50;    in 

Massachusetts,  63-65. 
Inventions,  234,  294,  295,  351. 
Iowa  admitted,  342;  growth  of,  480. 
Iroquois,  friends  of  the  Dutch,  74; 

foes  of  the  French,  98,  99.    See 

also  Indians. 
Irrigation,  540. 
Irving,  Washington,  293. 
Italy,  trouble  with,  499. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  defeats  Indians, 
251;  at  New  Orleans,  253;  in 
Florida,  268;  candidate  for  Presi 
dent,  278;  elected  President,  289; 
portrait,  290;  character,  290,  291; 
President,  290-306;  proclamation, 
301;  vetoes  Bank  Bill,  302;  with 
draws  deposits,  303. 

Jackson,  British  minister,  241. 


INDEX 


XXXV 


ackson,  Thomas  J.,  401,  402,  403. 

Jacksonian  era,  290-314. 

Barnes  I,  25,  51,  55. 
ames  II,  71,  76,  77. 
amestown,  Va.,  settlement  of,  28; 
early  history,  28. 

Japan,  attitude  of  United  States 
toward,  529. 

Jay,  John,  peace  commissioner,  176, 
177;  writes  in  the  Federalist,  195; 
portrait,  199;  chief  justice,  203; 
envoy,  213;  his  treaty,  213. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  quoted,  116,  129, 
223,  273,  290;  drafts  Declaration 
of  Independence,  159;  peace  com 
missioner,  176;  submits  ordinance 
of  1784,  187;  Secretary  of  State, 
200,  202,  206,  207,  213;  Vice- 
President,  215;  writes  the  Ken 
tucky  Resolutions,  219;  elected 
President,  220,  221,  228;  presi 
dency,  223-240;  character  and 
principles,  223;  portrait,  223;  buys 
Louisiana,  230-233;  embargo  pol 
icy,  239. 

Jesuit  explorers,  100,  101. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  elected  Vice- 
President,  424,  425;  President, 
433;  character,  434;  administra 
tion,  434-444;  plans  of  recon 
struction,  436;  impeachment  of, 
441. 

Johnson,  Herschel  V.,  377. 

Johnson,  Hiram  W.,  549. 

Johnston,  General  J.  E.,  390,  420, 
427,  428. 

Joliet,  his  map,  100;  on  the  Missis 
sippi,  101. 

Jones,  John  Paul,  170,  171. 

Judiciary  act,  224,  255. 

Julian,  George  W.,  352. 


Kansas,  struggle  in,  361,  362,  368, 
369;  admitted,  474;  growth  of,  480. 

Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  355,  356. 

Kaskaskia  captured,  171. 

Kearny,  General,  334. 

Kearsarge,  the  fight  with  the  Ala 
bama,  419. 

Kentucky,  at  time  of  Revolution, 
171;  settlers  in,  183;  admitted, 
213;  resolutions,  219;  does  not 
join  Confederacy,  387,  393. 


King,  Rufus,  190. 

King,    William    R.,    elected    Vice- 
President,  352. 
King  George's  War,  104. 
King  William's  War,  103. 
King's  College,  125. 
King's  Mountain,  battle  of,  172. 
Knights  of  Labor,  491. 
Know-No  thing  party,  359. 
Knox,  Henry,  200,  202. 
Ku-Klux-Klan,  447. 

Labor.    See  Industrial  Conditions. 

Labor  organizations,  489-492,  543. 

Ladrone  Islands,  519. 

Lafayette,  Marquis  de,  168,  174. 

La  Hontan's  map,  103. 

Lake  Champlain,  battle  of,  252. 

Lake  Erie,  battle  of,  249. 

Land  grants,  to  railroads,  478-481; 
to  individuals,  481. 

Lane,  Joseph,  376. 

La  Salle,  Robert  de,  101. 

Laud,  William,  55. 

Laurens,  Henry,  176. 

Lawrence,  Captain,  251. 

League  of  Nations,  585. 

Lecompton  Constitution,  369. 

Lee,  General  Charles,  treachery  of, 
169. 

Lee,  Richard  Henry,  158. 

Lee,  Robert  E.,  335,  401,  402,  403, 
408,  409,  415,  416,  427,  428;  por 
trait,  402. 

Legal  Tender  Act,  412. 

Leisler,  Jacob,  77. 

Lenox  globe,  14. 

Leonard,  Benedict,  44. 

Lewis  and  Clark,  expedition  of,  233, 

234. 

Lexington,  battle  of,  154.  • 

Liberator,  the,  315,  316. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  early  life,  266; 
debates  with  Douglas,  369;  elected 
President,  377,  378;  administra 
tion,  385-432;  life  and  character, 
385;  portrait,  385;  first  acts 
against  secession,  394;  attitude 
toward  emancipation,  404,  405; 
issues  proclamation,  405;  renomi- 
nated  and  elected,  424,  425;  as 
sassination,  433. 

Literature,  American,  293,  294,  558. 


XXXVI 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Livingston,  Robert  R.,  231. 

Locke,  John,  46. 

Log  Cabin  campaign,  310,  311. 

Logan,  John  A.,  nominated  for  vice- 
presidency,  472. 

London  Company,  25-27;  grant 
under  charter  of  1606,  26,  27; 
grant  under  charter  of  1609,  30; 
loss  of  charter,  34. 

Longfellow,  294. 

Long  Island,  battle  of,  163. 

Lookout  Mountain,  battle  of,  411. 

Loudon,  General,  108. 

Louisiana,  first  settlement  in,  101; 
purchase  of,  230-233;  .western 
boundary  determined,  268;  State 
joins  Confederacy,  382,  387;  re 
admitted,  441;  election  of  1876  in, 
456. 

Lovejoy,  Elijah  P.,  316. 

Lowell,  James  R.,  quoted,  333,  378, 
558. 

Lundy's  Lane,  battle  of,  252. 

Lusitania,  sinking  of,  570. 

Macdonough,  Commodore,  252. 

Machinery,  party,  464-466. 

Macon  Bill  No.  2,  241. 

Madison,  James,  189;  quoted,  183, 
195,  380;  in  Philadelphia  conven 
tion,  190;  writes  in  the  Federalist, 
195;.  opposes  the  bank  bill,  205; 
writes  the  Virginia  resolutions, 
219;  Secretary  of  State,  224; 
elected  President,  240,  246;  ad 
ministration,  240-257;  character, 
240;  portrait,  240. 

Magellan,  Ferdinand,  voyage  of, 
12,  13. 

Maine,  founded,  68;  part  of  Massa 
chusetts,  72;  admitted;  272. 

Maine,  the  destruction  of  the,  516. 

Mandeville,  Sir  John,  Voyage  and 
Travels  of,  3. 

Manifest  destiny,  330,  354. 

Manila,  517. 

Manufactures,  541,  554.  See  also 
Industrial  conditions.  , 

Marbury  vs.  Madison,  225. 

Marcy,  W.  L.,  quoted,  292;  Secre 
tary  of  War,  326;  Secretary  of 
State,  353. 

Marietta,  Ohio,  founded,  212. 


Marquette,  101. 

Marshall,  John,  commissioner,  216; 
chief  justice,  226,  227;  portrait, 
226. 

Marshall,  Thomas,  elected  Vice- 
President,  549,  550. 

Maryland,  early  history,  39-44; 
map  of  grant,  40;  charter,  41; 
establishment  of  free  government 
in,  42;  Toleration  Act,  43;  in 
eighteenth  century,  91;  does  not 
join  the  Confederacy,  387. 

Mason,  George,  192,  269. 

Mason,  John,  68;  grant  to,  68. 

Mason,  John  Y.,  354. 

Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  40. 

Massachusetts,  settlement,  56;  char 
acter  of  settlers,  56;  the  land 
grant,  57;  map  of,  58;  intolerance, 
63-65;  representative  government 
in,  61;  towns,  62;  in  confedera 
tion,  69;  under  Andros,  71;  given 
new  charter,  71;  extent  of,  72;  in 
eighteenth  century,  90;  charter 
changed,  148;  insurrection  in, 
184,  189;  western  claims  of,  185, 
186. 

Massachusetts  Bay,  Company  of, 
57,  58;  the  charter  of,  58;  map 
of  grant  to,  58.  See  also  Massa 
chusetts. 

Maximilian,  Archduke,  442,  443. 

Mayflower  compact,  the,  52. 

McClellan,  391,  392,  400-403;  nom 
inated  for  presidency,  424. 

McDowell,  General,  390. 

McKinley,  William,  his  tariff  meas 
ure,  500;  elected  President,  511, 
512;  life,  514;  portrait,  514;  ad 
ministration,  514-522;  message 
on  Cuba,  516;  re-elected  Presi 
dent,  522;  assassination  and 
death,  522. 

McLeod,  arrest  of,  313. 

Meade,  General,  409. 

Mercator,  map  of,  15,  16. 

Merrimac  and  Monitor,  399,  400. 

Merrimac  at  Santiago,  518. 

Merritt,  General,  517. 

Mexico,  conquest  of,  15;  trouble 
with  Texas,  321;  our  treatment 
of,  323;  war  with,  332-336;  Maxi 
milian  in,  443. 


INDEX 


XXXVll 


Michigan,  in  hands  of  British,  247; 
admitted,  305. 

Milan  decree,  239. 

Military  situation  in  Civil  War,  388, 
389,  391,  394;  in  1862,  396,  398, 
404;  in  1863,  408;  in  1864,  415, 
416,  419. 

Mining,  475;  coal,  486. 

Minimum  wage  agitation,  545. 

Minnesota,  growth  of,  480. 

Missionary  Ridge,  battle  of,  411. 

Mississippi,  admitted,  267;  joins 
Confederacy,  382,  387;  new  con 
stitution  of,  460. 

Missouri,  admitted,  267;  does  not 
join  Confederacy,  387. 

Missouri  compromise,  272,  273; 
repealed,  355,  356;  declared  un 
constitutional,  366. 

Mobile,  capture  of,  418. 

Molasses  Act  of  1733,  137. 

Monitor,  399,  400. 

Monmouth,  battle  of,  169. 

Monroe  doctrine,  the,  274,  442,  509, 
528. 

Monroe,  James,  minister  to  France, 
216;  envoy  to  France,  231;  treaty 
with  England,  239;  Secretary  of 
State,  241;  elected  President,  257; 
administration,  257-278;  portrait, 
257;  message  of  1823,  274. 

Montana,  481. 

Montcalm,  Marquis  de,  108,  109. 

Montgomery,  Richard,  158. 

Montreal,  taken  by  the  English,  Ho; 
taken  in  Revolution,  158. 

Moore's  Creek,  battle  of,  158. 

Mormons,  the.     See  Utah. 

Morris,  Gouverneur,  in  Philadelphia 
convention,  190;  quoted,  200. 

Morris,  Robert,  services  of,  165; 
Superintendent  of  Finance, 
quoted,  182. 

Morris,  Thomas,  322. 

Morse,  Samuel  F.  B.,  294. 

Morton,  Levi  P.,  elected  Vice- 
President,  497. 

Murfreesboro,  battle  of,  399. 

Napoleon,  236,  399;  issues  decrees, 
239;  withdraws  them,  242;  con 
fiscates  vessels,  241;  helps  bring 
on  war,  241,  242. 


Nashville,  battle  of,  422. 

National  Bank.     See  Bank. 

Naturalization  Act,  218. 

Naval  battles  in  War  of  1812,  248, 
249,  251,  252,  253. 

Navigation  laws,  the,  137. 

Nebraska,  admitted  to  the  Union, 
440;  growth  of,  479,  480. 

Nevada,  475. 

New  Amsterdam,  74. 

New  England,  map  of,  by  John 
Smith,  49;  confederation,  69,  70; 
map  of,  69;  early  history,  48-72; 
character  of  settlers,  56;  at  end  of 
seventeenth  century,  72;  condi 
tions  of  life  in  1760,  118-124; 
towns,  119,  120;  industries,  120; 
religion,  121;  education,  122; 
classes  of  society  in,  123,  124; 
political  conditions  in  1760,  127, 
128. 

New  France,  founded,  101;  early 
history,  100-111;  condition,  107; 
fall  of,  no. 

New  Hampshire,  founded,  68;  made 
a  royal  province,  70.  See  also 
New  England. 

New  Haven,  founded,  66;  in  con 
federation,  69;  annexed  to  Con 
necticut,  70. 

New  Jersey,  early  history,  78-80; 
founded,  78;  the  "Concessions," 
78;  divided,  78;  map  of,  79;  re 
united,  79;  character,  80;  educa 
tion  in,  125. 

New  Mexico,  334,  344;  becomes  a 
territory,  347. 

New  Netherland,.  74.  See  also 
New  York. 

New  Orleans,  founded,  101;  battle 
ot,  253;  capture  of,  400. 

New  Sweden,  75. 

New  York,  early  history,  73-77;  the 
patroons,  74;  taken  by  the  Eng 
lish,  76;  government,  77,  129; 
character,  77;  in  eighteenth  cen 
tury,  90;  conditions  in  1760,  124- 
126;  classes  of  society  in,  125,  126; 
education  in,  125;  local  govern 
ment,  129. 

New  York  City,  picture  of,  124; 
map  of,  162;  British  attack,  163; 
City  Hall,  201. 


xxxviii       HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Niagara,  104,  106,  109. 

Nicholson  letter,  339. 

Nicollet,  Jean,  100. 

Nominating  convention,  the  first, 
279.  See  also  Elections. 

Non-intercourse,  240,  242. 

North  Carolina,  joins  Confederacy, 
387;  readmitted,  441.  See  also 
Carolinas. 

North  Dakota,  growth  of,  480;  ad 
mitted,  481. 

Northeastern  boundary  dispute,  313. 

Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  480. 

Northwest  territory,  map  of,  185. 

Northwestern  boundary  dispute, 
449. 

Nullification,  300;  in  South  Caro 
lina,  301.  See  also  Virginia  and 
Kentucky  resolutions. 

Oglethorpe,  James,  founds  Georgia, 
04. 

Ohio,  settled,  212;  admitted,  234. 

Old  age  pensions,  544.' 

"Old  Dominion,"  36. 

Olney,  Richard,  509. 

Orange,  Fort,  74. 

Orders  in  Council,  238,  246. 

Ordinance  of  1784,  187;  of  1787, 187. 

Oregon,  326-328;  map  of,  327;  be 
comes  a  territory,  342;  in  election 
of  1876,  456;  growth  of,  476. 

Oriskany,  battle  of,  166. 

Ostend  manifesto,  354~355- 

Otis,  James,  speech  on  the  writs  of 
assistance,  138. 

Palmer,  John  M.,  512. 

Palo  Alto,  battle  of,  333. 

Panama,  recognition  of,  525. 

Panama  Canal,  523-526. 

Pan-American  Congress,  498. 

Panic  of  1819,  259;  of  1837,  307,  308; 
of  1857,  370;  of  1873,  454;  of 
1893,  505- 

Parker,  Alton  B.,  531. 

Parties,  the  beginnings,  206-208. 

Party,  the  old  Republican,  206,  218; 
the  Federalist,  207,  218,  220,  221; 
young  Republicans,  243;  reor 
ganization,  276-289;  the  Na 
tional  Republican,  281,  282; 
Democratic,  281,  282,  309;  the 


Democratic  divided,  376;  the 
Whig,  303,  309,  310,  340,  341, 
353;  the  Liberty,  315;  the  Free- 
soil,  341;  the  Republican,  358, 
359,  368;  American  or  Know- 
No  thing,  359;  Constitutional 
Union,  377;  attitude  toward  slav 
ery,  340,  341,  368,  376,  377;  Re 
publicans  and  reconstruction,  435- 
438,  441;  differences  in  Repub 
lican,  450,  464-468,  547,  548;  the 
Liberal  Republican,  450;  the  Pro 
hibition,  455;  the  Greenback,  455; 
the  People's,  472;  Mugwumps, 
472;  the  Populist,  504;  the  Pro 
gressive,  547,  548;  the  Socialist, 

549,  SSO.  . 

Party  machinery,  464-466. 

Patroons,  74. 

Peace  Conference,  members  of,  584. 

Pemberton,  General,  409. 

Pendleton  Act,  470. 

Pendleton,  George  H.,  424. 

Peninsula  campaign,  400;  map  of, 
401. 

Penn,  William,  purchases  West  Jer 
sey,  78;  purchases  East  Jersey,  79; 
early  life,  82,  83;  portrait,  82; 
acquires  Pennsylvania,  82 ;  founder 
of  colony,  83;  purposes,  83;  ob 
tains  Delaware,  84;  relations  with 
Indians,  86. 

Pennsylvania,  early  history,  82-86; 
founded,  83;  frame  of  govern 
ment,  83,  84;  a  proprietary  colony, 
83;  democracy  in,  86,  126;  edu 
cation,  125;  local  government,  129. 

Pennsylvania,  University  of,  125. 

Pequot  War,  67. 

Perry,  Commodore,  249. 

Pershing,  John  J.,  580. 

Personal  liberty  laws,  367. 

Peru,  conquest  of,  15. 

Petersburg,  416. 

Philadelphia,  founded,  84;  in  1760, 
125;  the  British  enter,  167;  evac 
uated,  169. 

Philadelphia  convention.  See  Con 
vention,  Federal. 

Philippine  Islands,  battle  in,  517; 
under  control  of  the  United  States, 
519-521;  government  in,  530. 

Pickett,  General,  409. 


INDEX 


XXXIX 


Pierce,  Franklin,  elected  President, 
352;  administration,  353-364. 

Pike,  Zebulon  M.,  explorations  of, 
332. 

Pike's  Peak,  discovery  of  gold  near, 

475- 

Pilgrims.    See  Plymouth. 

Pinckney,  Charles  C.,  candidate  for 
Vice-President,  215,  229;  minis 
ter  to  France,  216;  treaty  with 
England,  239. 

Pineda,  13. 

Pitt,  William,  108,  109,  152;  quoted, 

i3S»  143- 

Pittsburg  Landing.     See  Shiloh. 

Pizarros,  15. 

Plantation  system  in  Virginia,  32, 
36,  44,  115-117. 

Platt,  Thomas  C.,  469. 

Plymouth  Colony,  48-55;  motives 
for  founding,  50-52;  map  of  New 
England  by  John  Smith,  49; 
settlement,  52;  the  Mayflower 
compact,  52;  first  page  of  Brad 
ford  manuscript,  53;  in  confede 
ration,  69;  added  to  Massachu 
setts,  71,  72. 

Plymouth  Company,  25-27,  48. 

Poe,  Edgar  Allan,  293. 

Polk,  James  K.,  elected  President, 
322,  323;  character,  325;  adminis 
tration,  326-342;  plans,  326;  de 
clares  war  on  Mexico,  332;  terri 
torial  expansion  under,  337,  338. 

Polo,  Marco,  3. 

Ponce  de  Leon,  13. 

Pony  express,  477. 

Poor  Richard's  Almanac,  facsimile 
of  page  of,  122. 

Pope,  General,  398,  402,  403. 

Popular  sovereignty,  339,  355~358, 
360-362. 

Population  in  the  colonies,  114,  115, 
118,  124;  in  the  United  States, 
195,  247,  296,  350,  372,  536,  537, 
SS2,  5535  density  of,  195,  296, 
446,  537;  center  of,  553. 

Porto  Rico,  occupation  of,  518;  an 
nexed,  519;  government  in,  521. 

Portuguese,  explorations  of,  5. 

Postal  savings  banks,  535. 

Preparedness,  attitude  of  United 
States  towards,  576. 


Prescott,  General,  156. 
Prescott,  W.  H.,  294. 
Presidential  succession,  494. 
Princeton,  battle  of,  164. 
Princeton  college,  125. 
Printing  press  of  Franklin'stime,  119. 
Progressive  party.     See  Party. 
Providence,  founded,  64.    See  also 

Rhode  Island. 
Prussia,  106. 
Ptolemy  map,  4. 
Public  lands,  speculation  in,   305, 

306. 

Pugh,  Senator,  quoted,  377. 
Puritans,  the,  56. 

Quakers,  persecuted  in  Massachu 
setts,  65;  in  West  Jersey,  78,  79; 
origin  of  sect,  80,  81;  their  be 
liefs,  81,  82. 

Quebec  founded,  98;  falls,  109;  at 
tacked  by  Americans,  158. 

Quebec  Act,  149. 

;n  Anne's  War,  104. 

is  town,  battle  of,  248. 
u'ncy,  Josiah,  147;  quoted,  257. 

Railroads,  283-285,  306,  370,  371, 
454;  Western,  477-480;  rates, 
486,  487;  discrimination,  488;  In 
terstate  commerce  acts,  489,  495, 
534,  growth  of,  and  its  effects, 
536,  538. 

Railways,  city,  546. 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  23. 

Randolph,  Edmund,  200,  202. 

Randolph,  John,  quoted,  245,  260, 
281,  288. 

Recall,  547. 

Reciprocity,  500,  534. 

Reclamation  Act,  540. 

Reconstruction,  legal  difficulties, 
435'.  Johnson's  plans,  436;  con 
gressional  method,  437,  440,  441; 
condition  of  South  during,  442, 
447,  448,  451;  a  continuing  prob 
lem,  445,  450,  451;  elections  dur 
ing,  457,  458;  troops  withdrawn, 
460. 

Redemptioner,  114. 

Reed,  Major,  discovers  cause  of 
spread  of  yellow  fever,  522.  . 

Reed,  T.  B.,  speaker,  501. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


Referendum,  547. 

Religious  intolerance.  See  Intol 
erance. 

Religious  liberty  in  Maryland,  39- 
43;  in  Pennsylvania,  86. 

Renaissance,  the,  i. 

Representation,  in  England  and  in 
America,  133-135;  basis  of,  in 
Constitution,  190,  191. 

Republican  party.     See  Party. 

Resaca  de  la  Palma,  battle  of,  333. 

Resumption  of  specie  payments, 
454,  462. 

Revolution,  the,  154-178;  causes  of, 
JSS^SSJ  attitude  toward,  in  Eng 
land  and  America,  151,  152;  jus 
tice  of,  152, 153;  beginning  of,  154; 
significance  of,  162;  results  of, 
i?5»  178. 

Rhode  Island,  founded,  65,  66;  map 
of,  66;  charter,  70;  not  in  Federal- 
convention,  189. 

Riders,  463. 

River  Raisin,  battle  at  the,  249. 

Roads,  lack  of,  in  1816,  260;  state 
appropriation  for,  262. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  elected  Vice- 
President,  522;  succeeds  to  presi 
dency,  523;  portrait,  523;  life  of, 
523;  administration  of,  523-531; 
as  an  author,  523,  524;  re-election, 
531;  war  against  grafters,  532; 
and  conservation,  539;  and  rec 
lamation,  540;  coal  strike,  543; 
nominated  for  President,  549. 

Root,  Elihu,  528. 

Rosecrans,  General,  399,  408,  410. 

Russia,  entrance  of,  into  World  War, 
566;  revolution  in,  580;  with 
drawal  of,  from  World  War,  580; 
Bolshevism  in,  580. 

St.  Augustine,  settlement  at,  15. 

St.  John,  John  P.,  472. 

St.  Leger,  Colonel  Barry,  165,  166. 

St.  Lusson,  101. 

Salary  grab,  453,  454. 

Salem,  57. 

Samoan  Islands,  499. 

Sampson,  Admiral,  518. 

Sandys,  Sir  Edwin,  32. 

San  Francisco,  475. 

San  Jacinto,  battle  of,  321.  ' 


San  Juan  Hill,  battle  of,  518. 

Santa  Fe  trail,  476. 
-  Santiago,  blockade  of,  518. 

Saratoga,  surrender  of  Burgoyne  at, 
166. 

Savannah  taken  by  the  British,  172. 

Saybrook,  founded,  66. 

Schools.     See  Education. 

Scott,  Winfield,  in  War  of  1812,  250, 
252;  in  Mexican  War,  335;  nom 
inated  for  President,  352;  in  Civil 
War,  392. 

Scrooby  congregation,  51. 

Seal  fisheries,  499,  507. 

Secession,  299,  378,  382. 

Sedition  law,  218,  219. 

Separatists,  the,  50,  51. 

Serbia,  attack  on,  by  Austria,  565, 
566. 

Seven  days'  battles,  402. 

Seven  years'  war,  106. 

Seward,  William  H.,'  portrait,  346; 
speech  in  1850,  346,  347;  quoted, 
348,  358,  395,  406,  419;  men 
tioned,  353;  Secretary  of  State, 
386;  assaulted,  433;  demands 
withdrawal  of  Maximilian,  442. 

Seymour,  Horatio,  nominated  for 
presidency,  443. 

Shafter,  General,  518. 

Shays's  rebellion,  184. 

Sheridan,  General,  416-418. 
'  Sherman  Act,  501,  505. 
,  Sherman  Anti-trust  Act,  489,  532. 

Sherman,  General,  411,  414,  415, 
420,  427,  428;  quoted,  415,  421; 
march  to  the  sea,  421,  422;  por 
trait,  421. 

Sherman,  James  S.,  548. 

Sherman,  John,  466. 

Sherman,  Roger,  190. 

Shiloh,  battle  of,  398,  399. 

Ship  of  fifteenth  century,  5. 

Shipping,  120,  351. 

Shoshone  dam,  540. 

Silver.    See  Currency. 

Slavery,  beginning  of,  32;  in  the 
Carolinas,  47;  in  Southern  colo 
nies,  114,  115;  prohibited  in 
Northwest,  187,  188;  discussion  in 
Federal  convention,  192,  269;'and 
the  West,  269-273;  extension, 
269,  270-272,  317,  320,  338,  339, 


INDEX 


xli 


342-344,  355,  370;  early  attitude 
of  the  North  to,  270;  growth  of,  in 
the  South,  271;  the  cotton  gin, 
270;  the  Missouri  compromise, 
272,  273,  355,  356;  opposed  by 
abolitionists,  313,  317;  and  the 
Texas  question,  315-331;  the  Wil- 
mot  proviso,  335,  336;  popular 
sovereignty,  339;  Calhoun's  prop 
osition,  340-346;  in  1850,  344- 
348;  and  Kansas-Nebraska  Act, 
355-358;  in  Kansas,  361,  362,  368, 
369;  Dred  Scott  case,  366;  under 
ground  railroad,  367;  personal 
liberty  laws,  367;  effects,  361, 
372-375;  John  Brown's  raid,  373; 
cause  of  the  civil  war,  383,  384; 
abolishment  of,  405;  emancipa 
tion,  405-408;  thirteenth  amend 
ment,  426;  cause  of  Southern  de 
feat,  430. 

Slave  trade,  270. 

Smith,  Captain  John,  28;  portrait  of, 
29;  explores  New  England,  48; 
map,  49. 

Soule,  Pierre,  354. 

South  American  states  and  the  Holy 
Alliance,  273. 

Southampton,  Earl  of,  32,  33. 

South  Carolina,  slavery  in,  114; 
nullification  in,  301;  secedes,  378; 
joins  Confederacy,  382,  387;  re 
admitted,  441;  condition  during 
reconstruction,  447;  election  of 
187(5  in,  456.  See  also  Carolinas. 

South  Dakota,  growth  of,  480;  ad 
mitted,  481. 

Southern  colonies,  condition  of, 
114-118. 

Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  480. 

Spain,  explorations  of,  13;  domin 
ion,  15;  claims  in  eighteenth  cen 
tury,  87,  94;  difficulties  with,  183, 
189;  treaty  with,  in  1819,  268; 
misrule  in  Cuba,  515;  war  with, 

5I7-5I9- 
Spanish  colonization,  character  of, 

*5»  5i9- 
Speaker,  Clay,  the  first  great,  244; 

power  of  the,  501,  502. 
Specie  circular,  305. 
Spoils  system,  the,  292,  466,  470. 
Spottsylvania,  battle  of,  415,  416. 


"Stalwarts,"  the,  468. 

Stamp  Act,  the,  139-143;  the  Stamp 

Act  Congress,  141;  repealed,  143. 
Stanton,  E.  M.,  Secretary  of  War, 

395;  removed,  441. 
Stanwix,  Fort,  165,  166. 
Stark,  John,  166. 
State  sovereignty,  287,  299. 
Steamboat,     Fulton's,     234;    influ 
ence,  234,  235. 
Steel  business,  541,  542. 
Stephens,    Alexander,    Confederate 

Vice-President,  382. 
Stephenson,  George,  283,  284. 
Steuben,  Baron,  168. 
Stevens,  Thaddeus,  440. 
Stevenson,  Adlai  E.,  nominated  for 

vice-presidency,  522. 
Stony  Point  captured,  170. 
Story,  Joseph,  227. 
Stowe,    Mrs.,   writes   Uncle  Tom's 

Cabin,  352. 
Strikes,  489-491,  543. 
Stuyvesant,  Peter,  house  of,  in  New 

Amsterdam,  76. 
Sugar  Act,  139. 
Sullivan,  General  John,  171. 
Sumner,  Charles,  353;  assault  upon, 

362;  portrait,  363;  opinions,  435. 
Sumter,  Fort,  381,  386,  387. 
Superintendent  of  Finance,  182. 
Surplus    revenue,    distribution    of, 

305;  reduction  of,  471,  496,  497. 
Swedes,  the,  settle  in  America,  75. 


Taft,  William  H.,  elected  President, 
531;  administration  of,  531-535; 
portrait  of,  531;  renominated  for 
presidency,  548. 

Talleyrand,  Prince,  216,  217,  231. 

Taney,  Roger  B.,  304. 

Tariff,  the  first,  199;  of  1816,  260;  of 
.1824,-  287;  of  1828,  287;  of  1832, 
301;  of  1833,  301;  of  1842,  312; 
under  Polk,  326;  of  1861,  412; 
of  1890,  500;  of  1895,  507;  of 
1897,  514;  of  1909,  533;  a  party 
question,  467,  468,  471,  472,  496, 
503,  504,  550;  opposition  of  the 
South,  287,  298,  301;  tariff  board, 

Taylor,  Zachary,  326;  in  Mexican 
War,  332-334;  nominated  for 


xlii 


HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


President,  341 ;  administration, 
342-348;  character,  342;  portrait, 
342;  death,  348. 

Tea  Party,  148. 

Tea  tax,  146,  148. 

Tecumseh,  243,  247,  250. 

Telegraph,  invention,  294;  first  mes 
sage,  294;  the  Atlantic  cable,  443. 

Tennessee,  the,  418. 

Tenure  of  Office  Act,  440. 

Texas,  104,  321,  322;  annexed,  321- 
326;  map,  324;  bounds,  325,  328, 
330,  337;  admitted,  342;  joins 
Confederacy,  382,  387. 

Thames,  battle  of,  250. 

Thomas,  George  H.,  400,  410,  411, 
421,  422. 

Thompson,  Jacob,  380. 

Thurman,  Allen  G.,  497. 

Ticonderoga,  taken  by  English,  109; 
taken  by  Americans,  155;  taken 
by  Burgoyne,  165. 

Tilden,  S.  J.,  nominated  for  presi 
dency,  455. 

Tippecanoe,  battle  of,  243. 

Tobacco,  cultivation  of,  31,  36,  37. 

Toleration  Act,  43. 

Towns  in  New  England,  62,  119, 
120,  127. 

Townshend  Acts,  the,  143;  modifi 
cation  of,  146. 

Trade.    See  Commerce. 

Trails  to  the  West,  476-478. 

Treaty,  of  1763,  no;  of  1783,  176, 
177,  not  fulfilled,  183,  209;  of 
Greenville,  212;  of  1794,  213; 
for  purchase  of  Louisiana,  231;  of 
1806,  by  Monroe,  239;  of  1814, 
253;  with  Spain,  268,  519;  of 
1842,  313;  the  Oregon,  328;  the 
Mexican,  336;  of  Washington, 
449;  with  England,  1901,  524; 
with  Germany,  1919,  585. 

Trent  affair,  the,  395,  396. 

Trenton,  battle  of,  164. 

Triple  Alliance,  564. 

Tripoli,  189. 

Trusts.    See  Corporations. 

Tweed  ring,  485. 

Tyler,  John,  character,  310;  nomi 
nated  for  Vice-President,  310; 
President,  312-323;  and  Texas, 
321-325- 


Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,  352. 

Underground  railroad,  367. 

Union,  plans  of,  104;  the  New  Eng 
land  Confederation,  69,  70. 

United  States,  relief  map  of,  18; 
original  boundaries  of,  177,  178; 
development  of,  552-562.  See 
also  Annexation. 

United  States  bank.     See  Bank. 

Utah,  347,  474,  475,  481. 

Valley  Forge,  ,168. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  elected  Presi 
dent,  307;  character  and  life,  307; 
administration,  307-311;  in  1844, 
322;  nominated  for  President,  309, 

341- 

Vasco  da  Gama,  6. 

Venezuelan  dispute,  509,  510. 

Vera  Cruz,  taken  by  Scott,  335. 

Vermont  admitted,  213. 

Verrazano,  19. 

Vespucius,  Americus,  voyages  of, 
10 ;  America  named  from,  12. 

Vicksburg,  capture  of,  409,  410. 

Vincennes,  capture  of,  172. 

Virginia,  early  history  of,  20-39; 
first  charter  of,  1606,  27;  map  of 
grant,  26;  second  charter  of,  1609, 
28;  map  of  grant,  30;  House  of 
Burgesses,  establishment  of,  33; 
becomes  a  royal  colony,  35;  char 
acter,  39;  in  eighteenth  century, 
91,  92,  93;  slavery  in,  114;  life  in, 
in  1760,  115-118;  education,  117; 
local  government,  128,  129;  Bill  of 
Rights,  162;  western  claims  of, 
186;  joins  Confederacy,  387. 

Virginia  resolves,  146. 

Virginia  and  Kentucky  resolutions, 
219. 

Walker,  Robert  J.,  326. 

Walpole,  Horace,  quoted,  109,  175- 

War,  intercolonial,  88,  97-110; 
Revolutionary,  154-178;  with 
France,  217;  Barbary,  224;  of 
1812,  245-255;  effect  of,  255;  with 
Mexico,  332-336;  the  civil,  387^ 
432;  with  Spain,  517-519; 
Central  Powers,  567,  585. 

Washington,  state  of,  481. 


INDEX 


xliii 


Washington  city,  the  capital,  205, 
220;  taken  by  British,  252. 

Washington,  George,  portrait, 
frontispiece;  meets  the  French, 
105;  at  Braddock's  Field,  105; 
made  commander,  155;  character, 
155,  214;  defends  New  York,  163; 
retreats  across  New  Jersey,  164;  at 
Trenton  and  Princeton,  164;  his 
skill,  164;  given  authority,  165;  at 
Brandywine,  167;  at  German- 
town,  167;  at  Valley  Forge,  168; 
at  Monmouth,  169;  captures 
Stony  Point,  170;  at  Yorktown, 
175,  his  accounts,  179;  quoted, 
183;  in  Philadelphia  convention, 
190;  President,  198-215;  farewell 
address,  214,  215;  Trenton  recep 
tion,  222. 

Watertown  remonstrance,  61. 

Watson,  Thomas  E.,  512. 

Wayne,  General  Anthony,  defeats 
Indians,  212. 

Weaver,  James  B.,  504. 

Webster,  Daniel,  294;  quoted,  188, 
310,  566;  enters  Congress,  244; 
opposed  to  tariff,  260;  reply  to 
Hayne,  300;  portrait,  300;  in 
Tyler's  cabinet,  312;  makes 
treaty,  313;  7th  of  March  speech, 
345;  death,  353. 

Welfare  laws,  543. 

West,  the,  migration  to,  263,  264; 
progress  of,  212,  305,  306,  554, 
556;  rapid  growth  of,  264,  265; 
population  of,  in  1800  and  1820, 
267;  slavery  question  in,  269-273; 
democracy  and,  276;  development 
of,  475-482. 

Western  land  claims,  185,  186;  given 
up,  186. 

Western  reserve,  186. 

West  India  Company,  73. 

West  Virginia  admitted,  390. 

Wheeler,  W.  A.,  elected  Vice-Presi 
dent,  454,  457. 


Whig  party,  named,  303;  in  1840, 
309,  310;  divided  on  slavery 
question,  340,  341.  See  also 
Party. 

Whiskey  rebellion,  208,  209. 

Whiskey  ring,  the,  453. 

White,  John,  57. 

Whitney,  Asa,  477. 

Whittier,  J.  G.,  558. 

Wilderness,  battle  of,  415,  416. 

Wilkinson,  General  J.,  229,  251. 

William  and  Mary  College,  117; 
view  of,  1 1 8. 

William  III,  71. 

Williams,  Roger,  64. 

Wilmington,  75. 

Wilmot  proviso,  the,  335,  336. 

Wilson,  Henry,  elected  Vice-Presi 
dent,  451. 

Wilson,  James,  in  Philadelphia  con 
vention,  190. 

Wilson,  Wopdrow,  elected  President, 
549,  550;  inauguration  of,  550; 
re-election  of,  576. 

Winthrop,  John,  59;  portrait  of,  60; 
quoted,  61,  62. 

Wisconsin  admitted,  342. 

Wolfe,  General  James,  109. 

World  War,  date  of,  566;  causes  of, 
565;  countries  taking  part  in,  565, 
566,  573;  American  victories  in, 
582;  signing  of  armistice  of,  582; 
peace  conference  of,  584;  League 
of  Nations  founded  because  of, 
585;  peace  treaty  of,  585. 

World's  Fair,  the,  506,  559. 

Writs  of  assistance,  138. 

Wyoming  admitted,  481. 

Wyoming  massacre,  171. 

XYZ  affair,  217. 

Yancey,  quoted,  377. 
Yeardley,  George,  33. 
Yorktown,  surrender  at,  175. 

Zenger,  John,  tried  for  libel,  90. 


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A  history  of  the       1919 
American  nation. 


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UNIVERSITY  OF   CALIFORNIA 
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